Nothing to declare but my genius! (although my head isn't that big!)

Happy rainy evening all! Thought I'd give the world a step by step demonstration of how I do my art (also on my facebook page) just to show how I roll really! And if anybody else feels like having a go at doing their own work hopefully this will be some help!

1. I always draw out a very basic outline of what I'm doing, that way I know the dimensions of the whole piece is right. Doesn't need to be perfectly neat or anything, just so you know what's going where! (See pic below)

2. Start filling in with basic blocks of colour (I used acrylic for this piece), no shading or texture yet. I also always tend to start with the bit that I think will be the hardest bit to do, there's no point getting a whole painting done then messing up on the hard bit at the end! (See pic below)

3. Carry on adding colour. The black around the guys head will be blended properly later on. (See pic below)

4. Whole canvas is covered with basic solid colour. Don't panic if it looks a bit like a cartoon at this point, that's why you add the detail later on! I left the area around the wolfs eyes as I didn't want to use paint for such fine detail. (See pic below)

5. Using ink i added in the detail around the eyes, nose and mouth and added texture to the fur around the face. (See pic below)

6. Using a mixture of ink and coloured graphite I added texture to the rest of the fur and the paw. )See pic below)

7. Using ink I added the detail to the dude's face and shaded it with a pencil. I added the thin lines of blood by dipping the end of a clay cutting tool into the acrylic and dragging it over the face (far more accurate that using a brush I find). (See pic below)

8. Sorry to dwell on this dude's intestines but they do need to be done! I didn't want them to be too realistic really as...well as it's someones insides hanging out, so using black acrylic I put in very basic outlines. (See pic below)

9. I then went back and added the reflections on the eyes, nose and teeth using my clay cutting tool again and some white acrylic. (See pic below)

10. Sorry, back to the guts again, using the same tool I added the refections, also, using a white pastel, added slightly less defined reflections. (See pic below)

11. Once all the main detail was done I did the background which simply involved blending pastels over the (very important, DRY) paint. (See pic below)

12. Once completely finished I cover the entire canvas with a fixative. This prevents the ink/graphite/pastels from smudging and rubbing off (make sure this is done in a well ventilated area!). (See pic below)

And that's it! All done and on to the next one!....

Until next time...enjoy the rain folks!

Gem xxx