Here are some progression images showing a rough idea of the process. Please forgive the somewhat poor photography, I tend to take progression shots whilst in the middle of still working on it but then again maybe that adds to the realism.
[© Laura Ashford, 'The Frog Prince - Progression']
Stage one:
This progression shot is basically just after the initial washes have been put on [hence the paper bunching] and ever so slight detail has been placed in. When a face is in my work I tend to start there and work outwards, I feel it gives my work more life which probably sounds quite naff but I do feel that if you are working with characters you are responsible for bringing them to life so to speak.
Stage two:
I know what sort of artist I am in the sense of if I stay to long doing one thing I'll overwork that area and ruin the work before it has even really begun. So I then decided to move on. I started shading in the frog prince just casually because I knew the hardest area of this piece was going to be the hair... I wanted to up my game hair wise. I researched other artists and how they drew hair, I also look at a lot of hair [which doesn't sound odd at all!!] and then decided to take the plunge.
- N.B I worked the hair in phases starting from the top and working down. I did this because hair flows downwards from its source and I wanted to allow for natural flow to occur when adding in the initial colour wash of the hair. Basic shading was also added in at this stage, bulk hair partitions etc.
Stage three:
With the hair bulked in I then went onto the headdress, the tiara. I went over the hair again to bring out more of the bulk partitions.
Stage four:
This is the finished version. I added in more detail layer upon layer until finally going into the dark areas with black... I try and limit my use of black as I didn't want bulky shading and thick, heavy lines.
- N.B The hair was worked in over several layers. I ended up working strand by strand at the end, using the initial bulk outlines as a guide and allowing the natural flow to work over them if need be. Shading was done in bulk where required and then filtered out into the strands.
I also took the time to redo the frogs face here as I wanted him to be a slightly more fun character without loosing too much of the realism [yes... because there is realism in an enchanted frog!]. The borders were added in as I love Art Nouveau and I wanted a subtle nod to that period of Art without overdoing it.
In short I feel that I am improving with my work and considering the time scale I would say I am doing quite well. I have grown more accustomed to A2 and feel confident using the space, who knows I might start going up to A1 or A0... maybe... probably not just yet though! Seeing as I hated drawing faces prior to this whole exercise I feel they are turning out quite well.
The finished piece:
[© Laura Ashford, 'The Frog Prince']
Prints available: Etsy Store
and now... as ever... I am off for a cup of tea! :D
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