A sensual and touchy girl
This is the second in line of revisiting old failures. The original (see below) is the only Aftyn piece I consider a failure but still released. Don’t get me wrong: I have lots of failures featuring her, but most never see the light of day. The old version was a reflection of my skill at the time, one of my first breaks away from tracing.
I painted this new one from a different moment in Aftyn’s “Sensual touchy relax time” video, which explains the slightly different pose. Another Procreate work, I used a single brush called Lenah for the whole thing. It is highly textured and challenging to wield. I have found the harder a brush is to use, the more “painterly” my result.
I have to say, I’m pretty happy with this new version. The texture, the shapes, the values, the colors – everything feels like it’s working. It’s not the sophisticated simplified strokes I might aspire to one day, but that’s not currently in reach, not while I still struggle so much with shape and value. The complexity you see in the strokes here are the product of me searching. Is this the right color? Is this too dark? Are the eyes in the right place? Each correction leaves its history on the canvas.
I didn’t just fail at this once. There’s the one I released, which I’ve never been comfortable with, and four other false starts since. Something about the references from this video was just really tricky for me. Maybe it’s the blue lighting, the compressed value scale, or difficulty finding good landmarks for setting proportion.
But I worked through it! No training wheels, not even a sketch. Is this more blue or purple? How can I make this reddish hue blend with this blue hue without looking out of place? Are the eyes level? Does it look like she’s got her tongue pinched between her lips? This is all observation and trail-and-error searching to find my way to a good place.
I think I’ve done myself proud with this one. I’m pleased to be able to honor this talented, beautiful, and playful lady.
The original:
Medium: Digital
App: Procreate
Tools: Paintbrush (Lenah)