I really liked the vivid colors in the reference image from Ali Kay‘s Fresh Paint class, but there are a few things I learned from this process.

First, I just loathe Phthalo Blue and Phthalo Green — both are way too intense, which just irritates the heck out of me. Plus, I just couldn’t get a good mix of the two for the swimming pool water. (Perhaps I’ll try Cobalt Teal next time, although it’s quite expensive.)

Second, I ruined a beautiful velvety canvas panel by using clear gesso on it after doing the trace. I won’t do that again — it was like painting on sandpaper.

Third, if I paint more figures I need to use a panel larger than 8×8 so I can get the detail properly painted. Once I’m more skilled, maybe I can go small, but right now, it felt like I needed a toothpick to paint the lady’s facial features. Ugh! Her left leg looks deformed at the ankle — I didn’t catch that until now — but her torso looks realistic.

I’m including the entire line-up of WIP photos below.