Baba Yaga WIP - initial color

Want to feel like you are painting forever without making any progress? Try doing four versions of the same illustration! *whew*

At the end of last post, I had printed out 4 versions of this drawing - 2 on cold press, 2 on hot. I painted a layer of Chinese White watercolor on one of each (to experiment with Edmund Dulac's technique). After that dried, I covered the whole surface with a wash of yellow ochre (it could be any color, and usually a darker value than this) - and while still wet, I pulled color back off the lightest areas.

I then started to lay down some initial layers of color. The underpainting of white makes the washes a bit opaque and chalky (somewhat like gouache), but also makes the color incredibly easy to lift. (Next time I'm trying a lighter layer of white paint).

(Here's an example of Dulac where you can really see the lifting)

Here are straight washes on hot press (left) and cold press (right). I normally paint on cold press - which I hugely prefer, and I intend to finish this one in the way that I normally work. The hot press is the underpainting for the oil washes.

Even though this is really time consuming, it is very interesting - and useful - to be able to compare papers and techniques side by side on the same painting. A thing I rarely take time to really explore. Here's hoping I can take these all fairly close to finish to get the full effect.