04-02-2017, 05:28 AM
(03-21-2017, 09:10 AM)Artloader Wrote: Welcome to Crimson Daggers Rachael :).
That's a nice piece of acrylic painting there :).
I'm not sure I can be too much help since I've only just started with acrylics myself but I'll throw in a few ideas anyway if that's OK.
In my first attempt I tried to tackle both value and colour at the same time and it didn't go too well so then after watching a few promo videos on Jeff Watts (from Watts Atelier) YouTube channel I decided to just tackle values first and am currently just doing monochromatic paintings. This seems to be working a lot better for me. I'm finding that my paintings have a better separation between light and dark and therefore have a more solid 3D feel to them.
In your painting I feel that you could push the shadows under her jaw a little darker to give the painting more depth.
It is interesting that you mention underpainting and this is something I am looking into myself. From what I've read, many artists use and underpainting and then use glazes over the top to add in the colour. I will try this in my next painting and let you know how it goes.
As for books, many people recommend James Gurney's books, I have the Color and Light one but have only scanned through it briefly so can't really comment on it yet.
Also here are a couple of links on painting in acrylics that I've found useful:
http://www.explore-acrylic-painting.com/
http://willkempartschool.com/acrylic-painting/
Hope this helps at least a little bit :) - good luck with your painting, I look forward to seeing your progress :).
Thank you!