Day 1 - Laying down the composition and settling in. I lay down a tentative wash to see if it works for me, and start defining the figure to see if I think I am on the right track.


Day 2 - I am happy so far and start to feel my way in adding a more substantial background wash, a bit of spattering to suggest sun, sea and sand, and begin to get more focus on how the light and shade play on the body. Got a bit overexcited on the hair there - a bit of a worry.




Day 3 - Growing more confident. I carry on adding detail but that hair has to go! I got impatient and a bit carried away so the slow build up suddenly got lost in a burst of enthusiasm, hence the sudden appearance of the overly dark flash of hair and the shadow between the arm and vest.


Day 4 - Time to get things under control. I wash white over the "excited bits" to calm them down and add white high lights to accentuate the sun drenched areas. It is beginning to come together.


Day 5 - It's beginning to look good, my confidence is up and I am really beginning to feel the piece. I continue to work on the dark and light detail. I feel it needs more warmth and shape so I add red hues to the background and body. Today I really make progress.


Day 6 - I carry on with more of the same, pulling the piece together and give it more body and interest by adding green and yellow to the shadows and high lights and re-emphasising different areas where I feel it's needed.





Day 7 - Finishing off, tying off loose ends, looking for any glaring mistakes and generally aiming at consolidating an overall consistency to the image. This is where you can find yourself overworking and even spoiling what you consider to be the best bits. Sometimes it is really hard to tear yourself away.