A new year and, I have decided, a new thread for my Works in Progress (or possibly Works in Not Much Progress at All). My previous wip thread was set up in 2011 and in two years I didn't manage to check off all the things I had intended to do, so, "wise" from this lesson I'll just refrain from listing anything. I'll just start off with a couple of images, one from the Daily Sketch Thread of 2013 and one that sums up a bunch of old work I've yet to finish.

(Sketches of Nora von Waldstätten, though #1 reminds me more of Chris O'Donnell - #3 is made with the aid of the first 2 but no photo ref... none of them really look like Nora)

(I did finish the two right most images in this one)

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www.charlotteahlgren.com
IFX Gallery
Elfwood Gallery

I liked your idea of a list, though it does put the pressure on since it is in writing.  Maybe just a list pinned up next to the computer as a reminder. 

A lot of your pieces are so close to completion that I hope you can find the time to spend on them.

I will look forward to seeing the progress in this brand new year. 

voluspa:

Sketches of Nora von Waldstätten, though #1 reminds me more of Chris O'Donnell

I thought the first one (on the left) looked a bit like Julianne Moore. Great sketches.

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Hobby: yeah I think I'd like to avoid the pressure I have a book to writedown ideas in as well, but I think I haven't checked off anything in that book either...

Em...: You might be right - and I might just have to add Julianne Moore to the list of people I'd like to make sketches of... Not sure if I'll do more Nora sketches when I get home today or if I'll go with Charlotte Riley (was watching the last episode of World without End recently, unfortunately I missed most of the other episodes).

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www.charlotteahlgren.com
IFX Gallery
Elfwood Gallery

Hey Voluspa/Charlotte

 I recognise the character with the white long hair. Will you work some of this paintings more out? 

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Make the Impossible possible :)

Need a job to live from :( and art to live for :)

Yeah, that'd be Elric - it's his hair I'm not happy with. And his hand... Anyway, yes I hope to work more on it but I think I need to practice painting hair before I try again...

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www.charlotteahlgren.com
IFX Gallery
Elfwood Gallery

Hey Charlotte

Preparation and practice is indeed important but only the right one. Good luck with it. :)

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Make the Impossible possible :)

Need a job to live from :( and art to live for :)

Decided to stop procrastinating about that hair practice... Chose three images to practice from and traced the outline of the first to save time but then I spent ages on it anyway... I eyedropped colours too, and just added some quick shades to the body so that the hair would be comparable to something, so to speak (it looked odd just floating around). I think the braided hair worked out reasonably ok, but the long loose hair was way more difficult. More practice needed! (Oh and I do feel I paint every single hair - multiple times . in spite of what all tutorials say you should do, nothing else seems to work...)

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www.charlotteahlgren.com
IFX Gallery
Elfwood Gallery

The hair looks fantastic!

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Thank you em - but I hope you're not looking at the photo lol

EDIT: did one more of the three I had hoped to do today. The ref is lower quality and the hairdo is a bit easier I guess, but on the other hand I gave it less time.

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www.charlotteahlgren.com
IFX Gallery
Elfwood Gallery

And the third of my white hair practice pieces

Will post as today's daily sketch as well, because I think I have a cold coming on, or something and I'm not sure I'll feel up to more sketching later today... :(

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www.charlotteahlgren.com
IFX Gallery
Elfwood Gallery

Hey voluspa

 Two color sketches a day. That's more than I can do for one day. It's good that you practise painting hair. But that means that I would love to see the adapted painting of Elric.:) 

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Make the Impossible possible :)

Need a job to live from :( and art to live for :)

The hair practicing is coming along. I was wondering if adding a bit more saturated darks in the 'shadow' areas of the hair, the negative spaces. Not big areas just increasing the contrast in those little areas......kind of like adding specular highlights in the light areas only reverse....really dark darks in the dark areas. Does that make sense?  to help separate the hanks of hair as well as some on either side of the individual stands.

Have you used the smudge tool? It's kind of like working with oil paints in that you can put a dab of dark (or light) and then drag it 'down' or which ever way the hair flows *don't have it set to Finger Paint* It drags it to a nice point like what you get with a traditional brush. Different brushes from the brush palette give different effects and you have to remember to pick up just the color you want to drag but I like it for hair, fur and feather effects 

I too would like to see Elric completed  

Couldn't resist continuing with the spiderwoman sketch from the other day, but since I already posted a daily sketch today I guess it'll have to go in my own thread. If I take it further I think I'll need to change the format (which is absolutely square, right now) but I'm not sure whether I should extend the canvas in some direction or crop it... (or in which directions...)

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www.charlotteahlgren.com
IFX Gallery
Elfwood Gallery

I like the idea. Maybe cropping the bottom canvas size, so it's a horizontal piece, but move the foreground rocks up to perhaps overlap a leg or two for depth. You would then have a 'framing' foreground with the spiderwoman the middle ground and the 'caves/webs' the back ground.