Scarf mer

Here are a series of pictures building my new mermaid picture.  Most of them are just camera phone pictures as I went along - but I like looking at them all in a row.

Here's the pencil sketch I did in my 71st sketchbook.  It's a character of mine named Alanna.  Pretty.  I was looking for a quick start to a mermaid, and the way her legs are folded made me think she was a perfect pose.  Especially if the scarf was one of my water scarfs...  yes.  excellent!

 Here's the pencil sketch - still on clipboard.
   I do the pencils and then scan them into the computer.  Print them out very light on really nice watercolor paper after some erasing of redundant lines.

Flesh tone first.
yeah - crappy cellphone picture

Choosing nice color for the mermaid tail.  Something green, but I wanted to keep it in the brown tones.  That way, when I add the blue scarf, there will be some great contrast.

Adding more browns.  Want to fancy her up, so I am adding some stripes.  I use to catch perch and there were stripes there - not like these - but it makes me remember my youth.










 

Must get to the scarf - get those pretty blues on.  Some darks, some greens.  Make it like a cool wave.

Now I can play with the tones and making things darker.  Some background, and the other fish.  Some are nestled in the scarf.
Seashells.
Yup, getting there.

There!  Done.  I planned for the white foam and it opens up the wave nicely.  All the stripes are excellent.

I liked the details on her face too.  (By the way, the original is still available.)