Pg.6 The Nun and the Donkey

I have a friend named Kathie Spanbauer(Her link is listed below). She has a Sister who is a Nun and runs a Ranch with animals. Kathie has a picture of her holding a Donkey. It became very popular with other artist on Zazzle.com. The first time I saw it, I knew I had to paint it. Once more I would like to Thank Kathie and her sister, Sister Stephen, for the Privilege of painting this wonderful Photo, and to my Dear friend , Artist, Amy Jordan, for giving me the incentive to finish it and continue painting..Thanks Folks, I'm Here....Here are some Pictures and videos of my painting Kathies Sister and her Donkey...Captphrank

SKETCHING: Sketching for your painting should be very basic. I generally put in the Darks and Lights of the picture only. If you try to completly draw the picture it starts to get to complicated and hard to follow. Besides if your going to do a full detailed drawing Whats the point of painting it... MASKING:Masking is an important part of Airbrushing. Its a method of keeping your colors seperate and the canvas clean, although Airbrushing is an excellent tool for Blending colours. However when painting a Snow White background you don't want someones skin colour Bleeding into the hillside. So masking is important. I use 1/4 inch masking tape,an Exacto knife for cutting the tape and Lifting the tape when needed,and Newspaper to cover larger areas, usually the background is coverd first. GETTING STARTED (Painting):Not everyone, but most Artist who paint, like to start with an Undercoat. an Undercoat helps keep your colours uniform and also helps to cover some of the pencil used to make the sketch outline. I personally like for some of the pencil to show. My choice of Undercoat colour is Burnt Sienna. I use this colour to fill in all the lights and darks of the picture. This is nothing more than "Sketching" with the paint. Its also good for any mistakes you might make. It can easily be erased with the orginal white used to primer your canvas before anything was started. Again I apologize for the poor Quality of the video but The Idea of how the Airbrush was used is clear. FINISHED UNDERCOAT: This is what you will end up with after filling in all the Lights and Darks with the Undercoating colour. The Highlights, black for shadows, and White for Lighted areas and True colours will be next.Pure Black and pure White are not often used for Highlites, certain formulas for mixing these media can be complex, although they can be most effective. LAYERING:ADDING SUBSTANCE TO THE UNDERCOAT Now that the Undercoat, or first layer, of paint has been layed, the next layers will bring out the picture and lay the foundation for the highlites (whites), and Blacks (shading). Airbrushes spray a very thin layer of paint, and each pass makes it darker. So where there is shadows, you might make three or four passes with the paint, and where there is light, one pass will be sufficent. You may notice, in the video, I keep looking up at the photo. I'm Observing the Lights and darks of the photo in relation to the painting. If you try to paint an eye like an eye, your going to have a hard time. Its easier to paint the "Shapes" of the lights and darks that make the eye. This is a Technique that takes time to develope, but very effective. After Layering: Highlites: I'm using Pure White here for the Highlites. Its actually the same White I used for the Priming of the Canvas board. This way if there are any mistakes, they can easily be erased with out conflict of colour. Many Artist would never think of using pure white for Highlites. This is MY style. My Airbrush Instructor, Chris Cross, (yes, that was his real name..Very Famous Artist), insisted on using Titanium White with a dash of Cadmium Yellow. This choice is yours alone. Experiment. Highlites are usually the high points of ones face, such as the Nose, Cheeks, Forehead, Chin, and Ears. Its where the Light gathers most of the time. I like to Exagerate these areas. Because of the Overspray of the Airbrush, Very white parts of the Face can become "Dusted" or dirty. Such as the white of the eyes or teeth. You can Re-paint these sections using the Airbrush or you can use a conventional brush as I have done here. Use of ALL tools to the trade are recomended. What ever it takes to achieve your Goal. Shading: The Use of Black for shading, again is Not the norm. Its my choice, My style. As I mentioned before there are very complex formulas for developing a colour for shadows. colour saturation is one. For instance, if your shadow is on a blue wall, then incorporate your Blue into your Black to make the shadow colour. I just happen to like Black shadows no matter what colour they are laying on. Now that the Shadows have been designated through the Layering method. Its used as a kind of "MAP". All Dark areas will be shadows. All light areas will be barely touched and anything in between will be Blended. Blending with the Airbrush is done by the distance the Airbrush is from the Painting. If your up close, your spray will be a fine line, like an Eyelash. As you pull back from the painting, the spray becomes Wider and Fainter. BACKGROUND: The background , for me, is always the last step. Some artist start with the Background and work forward. Just a matter of choice when AirBrushing. I have skipped some steps in this demonstration, such as the colour, painting the clothes of the Nun, and the Donkey. Its my thought that this Demonstartion is lenghty as it is, but more importantly, the colour was added during the layering step. I used Reds, Oranges, and Yellows. How I layed these colours down is the same as the Burnt Sienna used in the Udercoating, and Layering. As for the clothes, just let me say, If you can paint a persons Face with an Airbrush, painting clothes is easy and needs no explination.Same said for the Donkey. It's all the same method. Because the background in this picture is totally black, I decided to do it by hand instead of Masking and spraying the entire area. After the background was painted, it was Finished...TA DAAA!. Here are some other AirBrushed paintings I have done. I hope you enjoyed this Demonstration and I hope you visit some of my friends Linked below... Thanks. Captphrank