Baby Portrait | Birthday Painting

Baby portrait painting
All Wrapped Up. Watercolor on watercolor paper, 250 gsm, size 21 x 21 cm. January 2015.
Last week was my niece's 4th birthday and I made her a baby portrait as a present. I used a photo of her as a 1-year-old as the reference. I remember when I took the photo, we were just about to go out and she was all wrapped up in the baby carriage and probably a bit annoyed, because she was getting too warm. But it was a fun photo to paint because of all the fabrics and colors (and that's why I chose it). I think this is the first time I made a portrait using only watercolors (no ink etc. for eyes or other details) and it's also the first painting of a child I've ever made (but won't be the last one). 

Viime viikolla oli siskontytön 4-vuotissyntymäpäivä ja annoin lahjaksi tämän maalatun vauvakuvan. Tyttö oli kuvan ottohetkellä 1-vuotias ja hyvin käärittynä lastenvaunuihin ulkoilua varten. Ilme saattoi olla vähän kärsivä, koska sisällä alkoi tulla kuuma. Kuva oli joka tapauksessa hauska maalata kaikkien värikkäiden kankaiden vuoksi (siksi sen valitsinkin ja varmaan myös otin kuvan alun perin). Tämä on ensimmäinen lapsesta tekemäni maalaus ja luulisin, että myös ensimmäinen kokonaan vesiväreillä toteutettu muotokuva (yleensä olen käyttänyt esim. mustetta silmien yksityiskohtiin). Kaikki vesiväritöissä käyttämäni tarvikkeet on listattu kuvauksineen pdf:ssä, jonka voit ladata täältä. Seuraavaksi kuvia työn vaiheista:
Baby portrait painting WIP

 I made the sketch using a grid, which I usually do for portraits nowadays to get the proportions right. And when I was happy with the sketch, I transferred it onto the watercolor paper (with my primitive "lamp and glass door" method) and started painting.


Baby portrait painting WIP
Baby portrait painting WIP

I still find skin tones difficult to paint. For this one I used cadmium red, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, burnt sienna and a bit of burnt umber for the darkest parts. I probably went a bit heavy on the yellow, but compared to some of my older portrait paintings, I think I'm getting better. You can download a free guide on all the art supplies and tools I use (with tips on how to use them) to create my watercolor paintings.
 
Baby portrait painting WIP
Baby portrait painting WIP
Baby portrait painting WIP
Baby portrait painting WIP

 For some reason, Ikea had only a few sizes of square shaped frames and I had to get this really big one (32 x 32 cm).

Jostain syystä Ikeassa myytiin vain muutamaa kokoa neliönmallisia kehyksiä ja oli pakko ostaa liian isot kehykset. 


Baby portrait painting

 And finally, this is the birthday card. The wrapping paper looks Christmassy but I think it still goes in January.

Lopuksi vielä synttärikortti. Lahjapaperi näyttää aika jouluiselta, mutta kai se menee vielä tammikuussa...

Flower card

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