Denim dreams

Please welcome Reddit user rosie_rosie_rosie to the site! She is a beautiful young woman who was happy to aid my journey of learning by agreeing to be a subject here. This first work is a study in revelation, showing off her gorgeous figure behind a shroud of denim. I’d like to do more work with her in the future!

The painting is a return to those pastel brushes after a long-ish spell of programming instead of painting. I haven’t forgotten about the figure studies book; I just needed to do some painting. I worked from a sketch this time, which I then painted directly on top of. It was an interesting approach. I think here and there you can still see the blue outlines I was using, but it never got in the way like can happen with an overlay.

I feel like the pastels are encouraging me to strike a better balance between detail and simplification. Color blending is also less of a challenge. I think if I can find that balance with ordinary paint brushes, I’ll be in the sweet spot.