This photo is of the developing painting. With the helpful suggestion from an artist by the name of Brian Horstmann of using ONLY shades of gray, i continued to increase the depth. I limit myself to three shades only. One nearly white, the next intermediate, the last, nearly black. Saturation of the color will shift everything as corrections are needed.
Not being an artist, or having a skilled eye, i add in some of the darkest values to assist me on the rest. In this case, i picked the hair.
The darker contrast made the initial shades of gray seem even lighter. That is a standard artist rule, but i do not take the title of artist. Artist is a title given, not taken IMHO.
Now comes the intermediate stage of gray, followed by limited use of the final and darkest gray to reinforce parts of the painting..
I jacked it all up a bit, but was pleased with the outcome !
There is a saying "paint what you see". That is easier said than done, as we tend to paint what we PERCEIVE instead of what is actually in front of us.
This technique of three shades of gray started me in the proper direction. It allowed me to see the shapes of shading instead of the object i was painting. You get to see the object appear as you progress.
I hope some of you find this enjoyable, entertaining, or interesting. Painting was a regular project of mine for a considerable amount of time.
Next up, i hope to cover another paint project that went out of control, and one of the many reasons i do not paint for others ! Contrary to the saying, failure is always an option.