Red panda

Digital charcoal portrait of Aftyn Rose in the super-cute red panda onesie she wore in her “Guided meditation (progressive muscle relaxation)” video. I use that video to help fall asleep pretty often; it’s probably my most watched of hers. A combination of the pajamas and the exaggerated smile made this a lot of fun to paint.

I’ve been experimenting with new approaches to my sketches, trying to pin down a method that will help me build my eye. I mentioned recently that I was struggling with simplification. What I did here was start with a photo reference that I traced into a simpler form, just edges and color shapes.

I then exported that image and used it as the reference for making a freehand sketch. The idea is that I would reduce the complexity of what I was looking at during the sketch phase, making it easier to concentrate on what matters. I found it helped a little bit; I could use the boundaries of the color shapes to help guide the overall structure. That said, my sketch was just as distorted as ever. Rather than try to scrub it into place, I restarted it several times until I got it more or less right. It’s not perfect, particularly around the eyebrows, the foam blob, and the tip of her nose. But her hands are the best I’ve ever done, which feels good, and I have to say I love the tiny hint of lower teeth in the painted version. Charcoal tools are good for communicating the texture of the panda suit.

I did something new at the end of this procedure. I hid the reference and just tried to think about the use of color. I decided I wanted some touch-ups that weren’t true to the reference but helped communicate the forms. Not bragging, of course. Artists should do this all the time, but I’ve only just started on that part of the journey.