I actually had the lyrics of Otis Redding’s Try A Little Tenderness going through my head as I was painting/inking this one.
The song doesn’t really fit the theme, but the word was stuck and that song is what came to mind.
For this type of art I start with a very loose ink sketch, just barely anything at all really so the form can actually change as I go sometimes.
It is in a sense just a guide.
I then add a bit of watercolors.
After I am satisfied I go in with ink again and give the image substance and form.
Water media is my Achilles Heel in art medias.
I have always struggled with them as they just don’t like to play nice with me.
The primary reason for this is that they work backwards to my thinking.
In oils, acrylics, ink, pencils, pastels, tattoos, and pretty much everything else I do I work from dark to light.
Water media can be used in such a way sometimes, but in general it likes to be worked from light to dark.
I am a player of shadows who likes to add light to an image as I go.
Ink allows me a way to do this while using water paints.
Without the ink I must work completely in reverse to my nature.
After completing the art I shot it with my digital camera and messed with it a bit for a sizzle.
This is what I came up with…
It is one of the least altered pieces I have done so far.
As usual… you may click the images to see them larger.
