Nadia Valeska 

Aquarellporträt von einer Fotovorlage

Hey there, Elaine, thanks so much for sharing your portrait with me, good work! As to your comments and queries, using mixed media is great, if that is what you want to do, of course if you are wanting to try without pastels and not sure how, maybe I can give some pointers. Could you tell me, do you go back to them to bring the „light“, or lighter colours back in?For me, there are two tricky things about watercolour and preserving its luminosity: one is reserving some areas where the white of the paper is the lightest area of the face, and the other is making sure all of my layers are translucent, so the brightness of the paper still kind of shines through. It´s easier said than done, I know! In watercolour, I find the magic is really in the white of the paper. If you have trouble reserving areas of the paper, one thing you could try would be getting a masking fluid (it also comes in the form of a pen), which you can apply to the areas you want to reserve before painting, and when you´re done painting, you kind of rub / scrape it off the paper carefully (make sure that the paint is completely dry, though). I´ve had a look at your reference image, and I think I would find it very difficult to paint, as there is not a lot of contrast and it the only point of light is really on the point of the nose, but also not very pronounced. Perhaps you would find it easier with a photo in which you had more clearly defined areas of light and dark. If you squint your eyes, you can see that most of the face is in a kind of half shadow, and that makes it a little tough to paint (squinting is always a good trick if you´re caught up on detail and have a hard time defining general areas). Seeing as the white of the paper is what brings the luminosity, having a reference image with areas that clearly tell you where to reserve it really makes it a whole lot easier. There are a few examples of images I found would be good to paint in the lesson „Materials and Finding Your Image“, photos which I found on Unsplash searching for „Portrait Photography“, maybe you could find some faces there that inspire you?You´re doing great already, and I can see you´ve definitely been developing your drawing skills. I know creative habits can sometimes be hard to shake, but if you´re wanting to go watercolour only, just keep going! One thing I do to relax about what I´m doing and have the courage to „let it be“, is work on several things at a time. When I feel like I´m stuck on one and can´t continue, I leave it and turn it over. Sometimes, I look at it after a while, and it´s actually good. If not, it doesn´t matter if I´ve tried something new, maybe one will turn out. Perhaps next time, you could set up 3-4 papers simultaneously, and when you´re painting one and want to grab your pastels, stop there and turn it over, and look at it the next day. Meanwhile, work on another piece. Could be a surprise! I will be sharing a 30 day watercolour eyes challenge here on Skillshare as well, maybe you feel like joining me there too. Let me know how you go, I look forward to it.

Yes, most of my trouble is keeping lights with a smooth transition and that's why I resort to pastel. I only had a white pastel pencil. Recently, I bought some portrait pan pastels. Beginning to wonder if I shouldn't be working in pastel instead of watercolor. I enjoy watercolor though - it's difficult, but I'm enjoying the journey. Color theory is something I need a lot of work on too - adding the greens, purples and such. Just takes time, I guess - and lots of practice.

The great thing about being creative is that one doesn't exclude the other, so maybe you want to continue with pastels and watercolour at the same time, and also separately :) 
The most important thing is, as you say, time and practice, and a love for it, which you obviously have. 
I hope to see more of your work and progress!

I have a bad habit: adding pastel to watercolor. I'd like to have pure watercolor, but I just can't seem to leave it alone. How obvious is that?
This is about my 4th attempt at a portrait and I'd love to learn how to get that luminous skin effect. Thanks for your tutorial. It's one of few on Skill Share about portraits. Constructive criticism always appreciated.

Lizzy 8x8 inches watercolor pastel

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