Ethereal Portrait: Mastering Watercolor Washes and Glazing

1. Intro: Welcome back Nero Diner channel here. So thank you to join me in this new class. Sorry for the mess past. I just finished to paint this little portrait that I'm showing you and I'm going to give you all the full entire class of this painting. This is a portrait and the painting I already paint I did, let's say, three, maybe four years ago. I don't remember. Probably was around some lockdown or something. I want to make again this painting for two reasons. First of all, because the first time I record everything was not the great angle. I mean, the camera was actually this direction, so you are going to see everything in reverse, and I didn't like it so much. And the second reason is because now I have much control on my painting workflow. So I remember back in time was not very detailed, was just smudgy and splashy, something around. Now the control is much better, and this is why the reason I decide to basically remake this painting. I'm going to show you everything details like materials, brushes, colors. I don't remember the name of colors, but actually doesn't really matter. I mean, dark red is dark red. If someone called Rotten red or something, doesn't actually is not very important to use exactly the same colors. The most important thing is to use the color similar to this one. If you want to use this color, if you happy to use different color, no problem. In this particular paint, I decide to mix joke to play a little bit with the classical orange teal cinematic, composition, range of color because it is good. But I used color a little bit muted and pastels just to make the things a little bit more painting and more interesting. I already talked too much. I leave you to see the painting and the materials. Also, the materials, I will tell you later in the next chapter. Don't be crazy if you do not have exactly these brushes because it doesn't really matter. You use the one you have. I'm going to give you the specific of this brush. So I don't need you to have exactly the Tintoretto synthetico Vo casan number zero. It doesn't matter. It's a good thing if you have a mop or quill brush pointed. That's the only thing really matter. If it's vio synthetic, natural, it's okay. The most important thing you enjoy the process to paint, enjoy your art came through your hands. That's the most important thing. Go to paint. 2. Materials: So material that I've used for this painting, again, this is the painting I'm going to show you and we put this away. Starting with the paper, you probably know this is my favorite brand, arches, arch, whatever. This is a cold press tree under GSM, granofnoorry, 21 plus 20 by 30 centimeter more is an A four, and this is the inches. 100% pure cotton. This is important because I think it's better to use a paper, 100% cotton, just because if you go over and over with water and color, you're not going to ruin the surface and you're not going to scratch it. But you probably know, usually, I like to use um a more texture paper. This is quite flat to me, but for this painting, it's okay because this time we have to write over. So I think it's better to have some surface a little bit smooth compared to the usual paper I use. About the ink, I think you know, I love to use the fontain pen. I have a couple of different fontaine pen because when I started, I used to started with comics and I used to use the Nib to dip into the ink. This one is a better solution for me because basically you will fill the tank here and you got a lot of ink, so you don't have to go back and forward to pick up the ink. This is, sorry. This is a fine nib. I have someone probably this is extra fine, and this one is medium. So three different quite cheap, actually, cheap but very good quality. Um, fountain pen. Ink for the fountain pen, no one is suitable. So after see some review, I tart and stick to use this one is called carbon ink. Why not suitable? Why not all the ink are suitable? Because for the fountain pen, you have to use some specific ink. But for the watercolor, you have to be sure that the black ink is 100% waterproof. Why? Because if you use non waterproof ink, the problem is you go over like this with water and painting, you are going to reactivate the black ink, and the ink start to bleed everywhere, and the only thing you can do is to trash your work and start again. So this one at the moment, is the best. I start to use these signs, I don't know, three, four years, maybe. It's fantastic. If you do not have a fountain pen, you can use the classical technical pen. Quite popular. This is the pigma micron, different size of 5.1 0.2, up to 0.8, and this set is basically the same. This is the one from Stdler. I can guarantee both of them are 100% waterproof. Brushes. Okay, at the beginning of the painting, you saw me use this brush. This is a goat image. Actually, should be got image. I'm not sure because I never use a painting like this before. I am not particularly fan of this specific brush because I think, um, for my technique painting technique, this I'm not able to have the right control of the amount of water versus the pigment. So I start to use other similar quill or mop brush, but not this one, in fact, you saw me use at the beginning of the painting, but then I switched to other other kind of painting because I'll show you in a minute because it is right in the corner. This is just one bed acrylic normal brush, why I use this Because it's very important from my point of view, when you pick up some color and you go to the mixing area, do not use the same brush you're going to use on the main painting. So it doesn't actually really matter what kind of brush you are going to use here, but use just one different, an old one, cheap one, anything. The only work this brush has to do is pick up the coal from here, go to the mixing area, and that's it. Why this? Because when you switch to the good, expensive, wonderful, favorite brush. And those three, I try to use, sorry, I start to use Tintoretto brush just a few months ago. I never used it before. I love those kind of brush a lot, and I'm using that brushes a lot, especially as soon as I start to use these brushes, I have Princeton as well. I have DaVinci Casaneo. They're absolutely fantastic. All of them are good, but I like Tintoretto because as you can see here, they have a good tank. So the amount of water is absolutely fantastic, but they are really pointed. So I can be very precise and I can keep going painting for a very long time because of the tank. This is a 30, this is zero and four. I think I don't need any other size. Probably I have some bigger than four. I don't remember. But anyway, those are more than enough, even for a big painting like 50 by 70 centimeters. The last but not least things I want to show you, this one, I used this one as well. Sorry. This is Borcan Bonazi. It's an Italian brand. Very good. This Go back. This should be GOT imitation. This is Kolinsky sable imitation because it's somewhere here. I don't know, but anyway, is a Kolinsky sable imitation. And the thing is, as you can see here, how strong are the bristle. So those are for detail, very fine details, they don't carry on so much water, and those should be actually, they are squirrel emit because here you can see ocasin so it's a kind of a squirrel, and all of them are synthetic. I switch to synthetic brush. I have some natural, but I stop to use natural because I don't see this huge difference between natural and synthetic. So I'm going to say some Animal, hopefully. This is very optional, but I actually like this is a specific sponge for watercolor. What is? So when you carry on some water, probably you see here, you can clean the brush over here. I don't know if you can see the water come from the brush to the sponge, and then you can go back to the painting to pick up the excess of colors. Basically, this is the same to use. A normal towel or kitchen roll. The only difference is this is compact and I can wash quite easy. And I actually start to use this and it's very good. You can use probably a normal sponge like the dishwash sponge. I don't think is a big deal. This is very, very, you can see here, the pores are very, very compact. Last but not least, I want to show you because I think I never did it before. The bucket. I quite love to use this bucket because I think it's very clever, first of all, because you have space for your brushes here a lot. But the clever thing about these things this bucket is, as you can see here, you have three different areas. So this, to me, usually is going to be the dirty water for the warm color. So when I clean the brush, using this area, it's going to be clean here. This one could be the same, but for the cold range of color. But which means dirty, water, dirty, water, clean water. So you don't have to have many different caps around the table, but you can use just one. It's from jalo, and my jalo is the same brand of probably this palette, I think, don't remember. But yeah, Maj I love them. I love that brand because they made very clever things. Nothing special, but I think it's clever have three different section of water. So you can have dirty water and clean water, and you can just switch between the two without have messy all around the table. So that's it. We can actually go to start to painting. 3. Reference Image Transfer: I like to show how I transfer the image. You probably already know there is many different method to do that. You can use the square grid or you can do free hand or you can do the proportional, any method is suitable. I like to use this up. It cost a little bit, but it saved me a lot of time. And because the model I'm going to paint is a friend that I really personally know, I think this is the best way to be professional. The only thing you need is an holder to place your phone or your iPad and keep it, it doesn't need to move anymore. So once you place, I'm going to show how you use the app. So this is the classical mode. So you place the piece of paper on the surface, and then you click Move underneath. You set up the final composition so you can zoom pinch and out to get the right proportion of the main subject on your paper, from this point, paper and phone needs to be fixed. So don't move anymore, and this is why I'm using a tape. Another tip about the masking tape. Don't use a very strong one because if your paper is not high quality and the glue on the masking tape it's strong. The risk is to ruin the paper. When the main subject, so the reference image and the paper are fixed, and you're happy about your composition, you can start to draw because they are basically linked and as you can see, you can move Zoom. Now, you can do anything you want as long as you don't touch the phone, don't move the phone and the paper. So they needs to be placed in that way because actually, if you move the paper, you're gonna lose. The link and the connection between the reference image and the phone. So now you're free with I'm using now a technical pen to B, so quite soft. Now you are free to report on the paper the main lines of the subject. And I know sometimes I heard you're just copying. Yes and no. I mean, the drawing I am actually doing now is one of my old painting. So I already did it. And the main lines, the black lines, was from direct from the picture of my friend. So I don't think I'm copying I'm not copying anything now. I am just doing a professional portrait of a person I already know. And from my point of view, um, this make me more professional because I am exactly doing her with her eyes, her mouth, her nose, her eyelash, her hairbrows, her hair. So it's absolutely hundred percent her and not just someone similar to her. Probably from my point of view, again, this is just my opinion. You can disagree if you like, of course. But I think because I want to do her, I think this is the best method and actually the quick method. Again, you can use many different methods to transfer the reference image on the final surface paper, canvas, whatever it is. But I think this is quite quick because in a few minutes, as you can see, basically, in three or 4 minutes, I have done the main line of the subject. I'm not doing the writing now because I will do freehand, even if my calligraphy is not the best, but it doesn't matter. Um, the thing is, in a few minutes, I am going to paint exactly her. When I found this up, I paid a little bit, probably three or four euros back in time, but it saved me hours. So to me, this still at the moment, the best way to report the reference image on the paper. I've used many other techniques, but this is the closes, the close one and the quick one to get actually the perfect matching with her expression and how is, in this case, Lisa, my friend and the model of this painting. 4. Inking: Starting the ink process, now I have to fill the fontainPen and well, I tried actually, no, I didn't try so much, but about the ink, I think this is the best one because it's suitable for fontainPen as I told you in the material chapter, and also is completely waterproof. I start ages ago sketching comics, so I quite like to use nib pen and the ink, and I love to use the fountain pen because to me, it's like a never ending almost never ending inking nib. I'm I think specific for this painting, the cold press, fine, torsion, not too strong granulate is better, especially when I will have to write over the drawing. But as usual, I probably if you follow me, you know, I love the grain torsion or the most textured paper ever. A quick suggestion, but I will tell you later again when you finish to ink, the main subject, take a piece of paper, a watercolor paper. If it's the same paper you're using, I don't know, I trash many other paintings, so I have tons of pieces of paper torn around me, so I can have one of the piece of paper because when I finish to draw the main subject, I will do some line or sketching or something into the other piece of paper. That's important because when I will going to switch to the step when I have to put water and color over the main subject. I have to be sure 100% that my ink in the main subject, it is completely dry because if it's not completely dry and you're going to apply and you will apply the water or the color over the black ink, the ink is going to start to breed everywhere. And basically, you have to trash everything because if the ink will bleed into the paper, you know way to remove it. And also, it's very hard. Actually, I'm going to tell you it's basically impossible to cover it even with the white because the white of the paper is never the same of the white to any other color. So you're going to see the difference. And also, even if you use, let's say, the acrylic white, you're going to make the paper kind of waterproof. So the paper is not going to absorb in a good way the color you're going to put on top. To do this particular painting, you can see, I'm going to do some very little shade just to get the volume, and more or less, it's going to be just the very black and shade part of the main subject. About the eyebrows I'm doing right now, remember, don't do exactly the same lines parallel because the way if you see an eyebrow, you can see start vertical and then finish quite horizontally. So just follow the shape of the face, and just look what I'm doing and probably you're going to get the point because probably see what I'm doing is better than explain with my words. I see sometimes maybe some eyebrows with parallel lines and it is not be natural. This specific line is going to be the edge of the hair, but it's going to be even the let's say, the edge between the face and the abstract background we're gonna do later. And so keep in mind that's your border. Don't go over. About the eye, this particular painting this eye on the right of your main subject. So left eye of the face is the eye close to you, which means you have to be quite precise and get the focus specific on this eye because you're not going to see the other one. But anyway, even in photography, the eye closest to the subject when you do this is not a profile, it's three quarter. Portrait. The eye close to the photographer is the main one. It's the one needs to be in focus. Okay? This is the rule. You can do anything you want, of course, because when you create something, you are absolutely free to do anything you think is better for your imagination and to get your purpose. But the rule needs to be quite straight in this way, the eye close to the photographer or artist needs to be in focus. And in this particular case, I'm not gonna charge too much black now because I want to see what happened later. Um let's say the model has the light eyes. If you do the eye too dark now, there is no way to come back. So stay light, you can add black anytime you want. And so see what happened later. And if you need more black, you just grab your technical pen or fronten pen or whatever you're going to use and charge later. If you make it the eye too dark now, there is no way to come back. Same thing for the mouth. I will do the lips quite red. So this is very This is a technique. Slow technique about comics. So main lines, the tunnel line is called in Italy. In Italian. Tunnel line means when there is a black shadow, the lines need to be bold and more marked. And if, for example, the top of the lips, now you can see, I didn't finish the line. I didn't try a full entire line. I stopped because I know there is the light coming from, let's say, on the top, from the top. And this is mean this means because I'm using a black line, if I do a full black line, now, the lips would be too much too strong. And the bottom in the opposite side would be in shadow. So this is why, as you can see, I'm doing some volume now. It's just a volume and a value. I will do the internal of the mount black, and I think that's it. And then I will start to write something over the main subject. Very easy, actually, not something. There is nothing crazy here. But be careful and take your time to do your drawing. 5. Setup Colors Tip: I like to give you a quick suggestion about the brush you're gonna use to set up the color, especially in the mixing area. So do not use the main brush you're actually going to use the main painting. The reason are, first of all, when you pick up the color from your palette, tubes or whatever, you're going to make the bristle dirty. So the risk is because you switch from different colors to get the bristle dirty and to get some muddy or muted color because they are mixing inside of the bristle. And the second reason is because well, assuming you have an expensive brush to make the main color, you want to pick up, first of all, you don't want to ruin the main brush you have. And the second reason is because when you mix the color in the mixing area, so when you're ready to reactivate the color and put on the mixing area, you want to be sure you pick up exactly the same color you need for to go to the main painting. So if your bristol is still dirty, even let's say you're still using the blue, you don't want to have a huge amount of blue, okay? Um, those are the two main reasons. This brush I'm using here, as I told you in the chapter about the materials, I don't particularly like I said sheep. This is a goat synthetic imitation, but I don't like it because I do not have the right amount of water and color, and I don't know, it's just not for me. But anyway, use an acrylic brush, a brush used for acrylic an old one. Anything you want, but do not if it's possible, do not use the main brush you're going to use on the main subject and to make the actual painting. 6. Wash Color: First of all, I have to apologize because I got a problem with the camera. Actually, the battery died. So I lost one clip. It's not a big deal, I think, because it was just the part and the step when I put the writing over the main subject. I can tell you now because you have just writing all around the main subject, leave the pace clean, as you can see here. So I try to find some motivational positive phrase, and I just report them all around the painting, just to make some good and positive energy. Now I am apply a clean wash water on the background of the subject. As you seen, I used the paint the brush. I don't like so much. And as you can see here, I have much water. Can you see the drop at the end of the stripe when I make when I use the brush? Can you see this drop is too big to me. When I used to do wash, I try to keep the amount of water quite low because I want to have as much as control I can on the color. If you apply too much water, the color start to run everywhere, and it's quite difficult, actually, from my point of view, it's impossible to have the control of the color exactly the pigment on the paper. As you can see, now, because of the paper started to absorb some water, now I have more much control, and I can clearly see when the painting and the color needs to the amount of color is right on the paper. And actually, I'm actually doing the same here. I think this is the last time during this painting, I'm going to use this brush because, again, it's a good synthetic imitation. But I don't know. Many people love that kind of brush. I just don't because I can't have right control of the water. So from my point of view, the bristle and the tank release too much water in too much short time. It's probably right if you like to splash to do some strong wash. But before the step I'm doing exactly right now, so apply this blue. I waited a lot, and probably I pick up the excess of the water. Well, I'm using two different kind of blue, some dark blue, like, actually, some vibrant, dark blue, like, I don't know, palo blue or trackino blue. It's okay. Again, Prussian blue. I have a lot. Actually, I think this is prussian blue and some middle light turquoise. And as you can see, right now, I didn't spread the water everywhere because I like to use the side of the bristle semi dry and this is another reason why I love the texture paper because you can get an effect quite interesting, like if you do the movement I just did with the texture paper and the semi dry bristle, you have this kind of broken color. I think you can get what I mean. And I think it's a good way, like, in an abstract way to have a final effect. Okay, I just told you don't go straight away with the brush on straightaway on the color. I just did it, but because I need a very rich amount of color just on the edge. And because of the paper still wet, I am quite sure that I am not making some mistake or put too much colour and make it some smudge or something. So when the paper is semi dry and still humid, like now, so it's not completely soaked, you can risk to go straight away with the painting straight away from the palette color to the main painting. Just try on the piece of paper on your right just in case. 7. Wash Contolled: Please give me 2 minutes because I want to show you what I mean when I told you earlier. I didn't like that brush because I cannot have control of the amount of water I clean water. I have to put on the painting before using the wash technique. This the brush I'm using right now is basically the opposite of the brush I used earlier. This is a Koninski sable imitation, and as you can see, also is a small size. I did it on purpose because I want to show you the main difference. Can you see when I have the right amount of water on the paper, how much control I can have on the painting and the pigment. I'm going to put on the final main subject here. So now, the paper is not too wet, too soaked. Which means I can extend the color. I can make a smooth blending. I can make blending between two colors because now I'm using just the blue, but you can mix between blue and yellow, for example, blue and green, blue and purple. And the blending and the fading between the two colors is going to be very smooth and you can have as much control as you want. I can pick up more color, another dark blue. And in this case, a turquoise, which one is different compared to the Prussian blue. I apply in the first layer. So when I said, I like to have as much control as I want, if you do that, you can actually basically do anything you want. If you do not have control and the water on the paper is too much. When you apply the pigment and the color, the color start to run everywhere, and it's basically impossible for you to manage the blending, the softness, the let's say, the shadow, I think now I can give you a clear example of the difference between have a control, total control on the color and leave the color run everywhere. Of course, if your purpose is to make something very abstract and messy, you can do in the way you like. 8. Painting on the Eyes: After what we just did, I hope you can clearly see how smooth and soft is the background. You can go over and over as long as you want to create some deep blue as a background. Jumping to the details now, especially in the eyes for this step, I am set up some sepia color, burnt sienna and osiena. I am going to stay on the brown range of color, and I will start to mix some of them. Keep an eye on the osiena because it could be for some brand. It's gonna be very orangy. But I think it's okay, especially in a painting like this when one of the goal and one of the idea was to play between orange and till the classical mixing colors on the movie. In this particular case, we are doing something more pastel and something more soft. So it's not a bright orange or a bright teal or blue. Now I am doing a kind of wet dry. So I'm going to use the color straightaway on the dry paper, and, of course, about drying paper. Wet, the background is completely dry because if you start to do the eye now, when the background is not completely dry, you're going to do a mess because the risk is the blue is going to bleeding into the brown section. Um, sometimes it's not a big deal because you probably know I don't use black straight from the tube. I think I don't even have a black. Or if I have somewhere in a corner, I forgot I forgot totally forgot where is it now, because I like to mix and create a black by my own using the paints gray and the sepia. Why using those two colors? Because if I need a black, more warm, I use more Sepia than um the pain's gray if I need cold black, of course, it's gonna be the opposite. And I'm gonna use more pains gray compared to the sepia. Back to the painting for this eye, as you can see, I'm using to put the clean water. Actually, the main one of the main brush I'm going to use for painting the main subject. Why that? Because specific this brand, I recently tried this brand tin Toretto brush. I found them. They're very, very good about the amount, sorry, the amount of water they're gonna release on the paper, I like a lot, even the Princeton brand. And for some reason, the Casano as well are not bad. I think Tintoretto is much superior. And to be honest, I never used Tintoretto signs a few months ago. But as soon as I tried that, I was falling in love for this brush because they are actually very good, especially because the point, as you can see, is very sharp. So you can use the back of the brush as a tank, and this kind of brush allow you to paint just with the point. So you have a very, very control, total control of amount of the pigment you're going to put on the paper. Mixing some blue with the brown is not a bad idea, even because we are going to increase the relationship between cold and warm color. And I think this is good. It is going to be a glazing, by the way. So we're going to add layer later. 9. Lips: I am getting to paint the lips because I want everything I did just a minute ago around the ice, I need to be dry because I have to come back and make that darker, but I need the first step. Would be dry because this is something called glazing technique. Okay? It's not pure glazing because the glazing sometimes is made using the technique wet on dry. In this particular case, I'm doing a kind of wet on wet, especially in the lips because I want to blend two colors together. So I'm going to use some very dark red because assuming the light is coming from top means the top lip is going to be in shadow. So the top lip needs to be darker than the lip, the bottom lip. And this create a good three dimensionality of the mount. So in specific, as you can see, I divide in some way, the top leap in two levels. So the top of the bottom of the top leap, sorry, it's going to be kind of dark red, almost brown. And the top lip is going to be orange. Why I choose orange. Usually, I don't use orange for the lips, but as I told you earlier, here we are just playing with some colors. So exaggerate a little bit. I think is going to be okay, especially because the orange, even if it's a very bright orange, that should be cadmium orange. So very, very strong, bright orange. But it's going to be mixed with kind of pastel dark red. I don't remember the name. I have to check. The name of the red but actually, again, it doesn't matter. Just use a dark red and see if the hue is suitable for you. And I'm going to do the same thing on the bottom lip, but with less amount of color. Again, this is actually another technique to gain time until the step we just did is going to get dry. So what I'm talking about. The top lip now is getting dry, which means I can go over again with another layer with dark red to brown, let's say, from dark red to sepia to get the lip darker, much darker, okay? But to do that, I need the lips and the area we just paint would be dry. So now I jump to the bottom lip. And then I go back again to the top lip. And then again, I would go on top again on the ice, which is the part in the area we paint earlier. This is, I know, it can be confused, but if you start to paint, um, as soon as you get experience in painting, you're going to do this quite natural. You're not gonna think about, Oh, now, I have to do everything in a short way because then I will wait. Everything is gonna get dry. No, no, do actually very, very relax. Don't worry, don't rush. Um, another tip because I just saw what I did on the sponge. That sponge is actually very good. Keep a towel or a kind of sponge. You can use a sponge, a dish for your dish, as well. I mean, a normal sponge. That blue is a specific sponge. For watercolor, I didn't use that signs two, three months ago. But I think it's quite useful because it is smaller than towel and I can wash and clean much better. And actually, I think, is absorb and get my brush quite dry, very, very good. Why I use that sponge Because after apply some pigment and some color on the main subject, I need to pick up the excess of color. To do that, I need, of course, to have a quite clean brush. So I can pick up the excess of color and do not put more color over the painting. To do that, you can do in two ways. Take two brushes. One clean and one you actually used to paint or clean the brush between the steps. Another thing I can suggest to you is pick up a small amount of color and take your time, do over and over and over, layer on layer on layer, and do not rush because to add color, you are always in time. 10. Nose: This is probably something pretty much everyone hates to do, and sometimes you can get wrong and you ruin everything. Me, too, me first. So the nose, why the nose is so complicated? Basically because on the nose, you do not have any lines to use as a reference. Let me be let me explain a little bit better. Let's say the eye. On the eye, you have the shape of the eye, the eyelash, you have the pupil, the iris, the eyebrows. So you have more much more reference lines, black lines straight lines like on the eyelash, you have there is no question that that is almost black line. The edge of the iris could be the same or I don't know, take the mouth, like the mouth we have right now. Between the two lips, you have a straight black line with no problem. So you can see with no problem, how the edge, and it's from my point of view, a little bit easy to do compared to the nose. On the nose, you just have volumes. The only reference you have is gonna be the hole inside of the nose, but it's not a real that holds the naris is called, I don't know. They're not a reference good enough to understand the volume of the nose. So this is why from my point of view, many people get wrong with the nose because you have just to understand the volumes and the different values. And as you can see, this is why I am doing the nose very, very slow, and I'm going to take my time to do everything, and I'm not charged the color too much straight away on the paper. I know the bottom of the nose, let's imagine a triangle. It should be in shadow because, again, assuming the light is coming from top. In this particular point here is when the nose join with the rest of the face. So there is a little bit of shadow in that point and needs to be let's say, soft because a darker shadow makes a biggest nose. And I can understand it's not easy to do a nose. And also, I play with some different colors as well because I like to use some light color that can help me to do not get the nose too dark in too short time, and I can get more control about the amount of color I'm putting on the painting. A few tricks. Also, now I apply a little bit of blue because the blue with the brown makes some black. Let's say, black, in this case, is very light black, but can help me to improve the three dimensionality of the painting. And again, here. I'm going back with that dark color to increase the shadow between the eyebrows and the eye. So the base of the nose on top is going to be more strong, expressive, more. But I think you can get the word, but the most important thing you need to get the concept. Take your time, be quiet. Don't brush because if you again, to get dark, you are always in time to add the color, you are always in time. To pick up the color from a paper using the watercolor technique is not easy. I never use oil technique. So I never use oil color, but I used a lot of acrylic with the airbrush. I remember to get some light, some part light if I don't know, if I get wrong in some way and I apply too much color, it can be. It's not easy, but it's possible. With the watercolor technique, I'm not sure because when the color get inside of the paper, you can't remove it. You can, but the risk to destroy the paper, to ruin the painting is very high. So it's better if you take your time. If you go layer on layer, very soft, very light, and then you maybe go back two or three time. And this is another reason why I strongly suggest you if it's possible because I know it's much expensive compared to the normal paper to use 100% cotton paper because a cotton paper can handle a lot of water. So if you go over and over and over and over with painting and water, you're not going to destroy the paper, the surface of the paper. So you're going to save the painting. Um Again, as you can see here on the chin, I just use a very basically a dirty brush, a dirty water. It's not a real color and even here now with this blue, I'm going to use that to increase the idea to the separation between light and dark is just a small trick. Someone can prefer to use some green. It's called I don't know the name in English. It's a kind of muted green, dark green. Um I see many people use that to make the skin tone in the shadow area. It's totally up to you. But the point is, be use some light color. In this particular step, as you can see, I basically use a kind of dirty water. It's not a real color. If you see me go back to pick up some color into the palette and touching when I squeeze the tube is actually not going inside of the tube, but I'm going to pick up some dirty water around the color. Again, take your time because to create the shadow on the nose, is not quick and sometimes could be not easy. So, don't worry. Wait in case you need to get the paper dry to go over with another light layer so you can build the shadow and the three dimensionality as best as you can. 11. Details: This could be the last step, but actually is not the last step. Because as I told you earlier, you can go over and over again on the nose, on the lips and on the eye, and this is actually what I did the day after. I didn't record it, but I think it doesn't matter. The technique is always the same. I just apply another layer of color just to have more deep of two dimensionality. If you want to keep your work clean, leave it right now, the only thing is missed now is the other part of the background. Why I didn't earlier. The reason is very clear and very specific because this is a technique I learned when I was tattooing. I'm right hand. So for all the workflow and all the process of painting, I should have exactly this area I'm painting right now underneath my handside my wrist and my sleeve. Which means I can get that part dirty. I can I can get dirty my wrist, my sleeve, the side of my hand. And when I go over on the rest of the painting, I can make a mistake. I can get the paper dirty, many different things. So what I'm talking about, I start top left to finish bottom right because I'm right hand. If you are left hand, I think you can just do the opposite way. But probably if you left hand, you are going to do this painting flipped horizontally. So the face is looking on the right and not on the left, as is the painting right now. So the reason is just because is a method of painting. Is nothing specific, nothing. It is just to avoid to go over and over this step right now here and move the blue everywhere, get the paper dirty because the many different reasons, one of the other reason is if I do this area of the background right now, I have to wait hours before I go back and start to do the face because I need this completely dry. And also, I have to keep in mind to put some towel underneath or tissue underneath of my hand or a piece of paper just to avoid again, as I just said, get dirty or to go over and over a part of the painting needs to be very clean, and this is the same technique I use on the top of the background. So nothing special. 12. Greetings: So I really hope you enjoy this class. If you need further information, or if you want to ask me something, just feel free to contact me. I'm really happy to help you and I'm here because I like to be present. If I don't reply immediately, no worries. I'll be back as soon as I can. Because I have to do many things, but I'm going to try to join to, sorry, login in my page at least once or twice a day, because I create this new profile from zero when I switch from UK to Italy. There is no way to keep my old my old profile. So also the classes was back in time, not really. Well, I don't know if this one is better. I hope so because actually, at the moment, I can see many reviews and you join my project. So I think you like it. In case, sorry again for my English. I know it's a little bit broken, but I try to do the best as I can. The beautiful thing about all of this process. And this situation is the art is a good way to say everything without a word, in some case. But, of course, I'm here to teach you, so I'm trying to do the best with my English. See you next time, contact me, join my project. Really happy to be helpful for you. And so, never stop practice. See you next time. Chow.