Coloring Medusa, part 1

Coloring snakes and a large face

This week I had the rare chance to color for two days during a demo at the U of O Bookstore here in Eugene, OR. It was nice to meet people and get a chance to draw and color whatever I wanted.

I've been thinking all week what I wanted to work on, and Sunday the idea finally came to me to draw a Medusa head. Sorry some of the pictures are blurry, but the lighting was not the best. The whole piece took about 6-7 hrs. to color (though I was talking to customers during that time as well). I used a lot of colors, but I'm really pleased with how the final image came out.

 I started by coloring the face with a base of YR000, then added shading with E21 and E13. I deepened the shadows with BV31, and BV02. I added hints of YG01 into the shadows, as the snakes will be reflecting greenish light back onto her skin.

I added highlights to her cheeks with a soft swipe of Y00.

Her eyes are YG01, and YG07, with the pupils colored in RV69. Her lips were shaded with a base of R81. Then, I darkened the lips with RV66 and RV69. I colored her golden jewel circlet with a base of Y2, then shadowed it with Y28 to get that perfect gold shadow color.

The red jewels are colored with R81, RV66, and darkened with RV69. Notice I left the highlights on the gems to preserve the feel of luminescence.

Once I was comfortable with the way the face was looking, I moved on to the snake heads. I started by putting a base layer of YG01 over everything.

Notice how I carefully blended the green from the snakes into the pale skin color. I carefully and lightly flicked them into each other, I did not go back and blend or that would have made muddy colors.

I colored the snake mouths with the same pinks and reds I used on her lips and jewels.

Next, I began shading each of the snakes. This was the most tedious part of the whole image. For snakes in the foreground, I mostly used YG01, YG03, YG07, and hints of G28. For snakes in the back, I added YG23, as it is a little grayer green. I also added a few subtle shadows of BV00 to dull down the colors and make them look more shadowed.

I also added highlights to her lips using the Opaque White with a brush. it was perfect for those fine details.

Here is a mostly done shot of Medusa. In a few days I will show the remaining details I added to make her snakes look even more interesting.

I hope you have a great weekend and get a chance to color!