A Bewitching Painting - my painted Enchantress

I know I've been a bad Steemian lately... my posting has been kind of sporadic, and my commenting not much better. This whole having 2 kids at home full-time thing is throwing me more than a little off my game. It's not really even the fact that they're both home for the summer break, it's the fact that we had a really late start to the summer, and now that the weather is finally cooperating, I'm trying to cram in as much as possible, to make sure we get out and enjoy it while it lasts! Plenty of trips to different beaches and parks, plus swimming lessons twice/week... doesn't leave a lot of time for sitting in front of a screen. 😉

BUT I am very fond of this place, and I am trying to make it a priority at least twice/week. I could probably do a little more with my down time in the evenings, but that's "us time" for hubby and I, and that shit's valuable. I have found some time to do a bit of art here and there, also! And that's what I'm here for today...

You might remember roughly 2 weeks ago (What?! Already?!) that I posted the inked outline of a @steemmonsters drawing I'd done. Well, after setting it aside, and then drawing and painting a second Steem Monster, the Angel of Light, I decided I wanted have a crack at this one. I am fairly pleased with how it turned out, despite running into a few challenges. This type of bristol is apparently not a fan of being saturated... so it worked well for the lighter touch I had with the paint on the Angel, but the deeper, more saturated color of this piece was not so easy to push around. I've never worked with this type of paper before, so it was totally an experiment, and I can't be too upset about it. There are a few areas where the paper actually started to pill up, and peel away, after I'd tried soaking it for a wet-on-wet technique. I guess next time I get my hands on bristol like this I'll either stick with light colors, or pencils, just to be safe. 😅

So, let's have a peek at a few process shots I took along the way!

For those of you who don't feel like clicking through to the original, here's what the linework looked like:

I almost always paint the skin first.

Then I paint some other bits and pieces that are not too close to the skin, to give it time to dry, and so I'm not sitting idle while I wait.

Once it's dry, I come back and add a layer of "rosiness" on the skin, and work on some other lighter bits. (In this case, her hair.)

Then it's time to wok on some of the darker bits, like her costume.

And then the last few bits and pieces, as well as the background. I did it in a few stages, but I didn't grab any progress shots, because I was basically constantly tinkering, and trying to push paint that didn't want to be pushed. The stars were painted on last, after the sky was dry, with white gouache.

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I'm really enjoying the inspiration I'm getting from the Steem Monsters cards, and might continue to draw one up here and there, when I'm looking to do something creative, but need a break from the reworking of my comic book characters. AND I'm hoping to get a chance to play a bit here and there, once things settle down again. 😊