Practice

This practice piece was started in early April and is based on a painting by Sir William Ross of 'Queen Louise Marie of Belgium' dated 1846.  After finishing the sketch earlier in the month, it was set aside.  

That waiting was because I was unsure how to proceed.  The Queen is portrayed in a dark blue gown with a black lace shawl over the gown.  I didn't know how the shawl could be done while watercolors were planned for the base layers and I didn't want to activate them as part of adding the shawl.

Yesterday, I decided to just go ahead and add color.  Two alternatives have been suggested to me on how to isolate the watercolor layer(s) and add the shawl on top.  Without having experimented using each option on a less precious piece, I decided to call this done for now absent the shawl.  You can still see a few of the lines for it that were drawn in as part of the sketch and haven't been erased.  I may come back to the piece later on -- to add it.  For now, I just want this piece off my to-do list.

What I like about the work is the facial expression and the sense of curls in the hair (they aren't great but you get the idea--and certainly more practice would be beneficial).  The gown color came out well too.  It looks rich.  It may not look all that velvety, but that's what I was working towards.  Overall, I'm satisfied.