For the tongue I started with some pink to define the lighter portions and where the highlights will be. Here it’s all free hand work; I’m paying close attention to the reference photo to pick up all the small details and to try to match the textures as much as possible. This is a very impor- tant feature of the portrait because of its contrast to the adjacent colours and because it’s smack down the center of the painting. I then proceed with the paint mixture for the colour of the tongue. This is a mixture of both the fluorescent red and hot pink as well as some flamingo pink and a touch of red. I then come back to do the dark area inside the mouth using the same colour used for the eyes.

Here is a close up shot of the completed tongue. I came back with some diluted white paint to create the highlights. This helps to give the effect of texture since the tongue is not a smooth surface. I work very close to the fabric and I vary the amount of paint to create various intensi- ties in the highlights. I use a bit of grey to the underside of the tongue as well. I pay close atten- tion the sharp and smooth edges between the dark and the light areas. I started defining the shaded area on the lips prior to painting in the red of the lips.

Here are a few pictures showing my exterior setup. I used an artist’s easel that I had. I found it a bit wobbly but liked the feature of being able to adjust my painting surface to various heights. For a side table for my paint and airbrush, I used a mechanic’s tool tray that is often used for working on car engines. The outside temperature was close to 85°F in the shade, but, I was able to keep a close eye on my son playing with his friends in the pool, and even once in a while, I would go in for a quick dip too cool off before returning to my project. Now that’s my kind of studio! I noticed that because of the very warm weather, the paint in my airbrushes would dry much, much quicker. I often work with 2 or 3 airbrushes at the same time, so to work around this problem, I made sure to use the covers over the paint cups of the airbrushes which re- solved the issue. Depending on the amount of paint in the airbrush, it’s always a good practice to use those covers so as to avoid paint spills onto your work if you move too fast.

I started painting the lips using the same mixture of colours I used for the tongue, but added some red and fluorescent orange. I made myself a shield for the outer edge of the lips using an acetate sheet which I cut using a stencil cutter. Once in place, I only use it to drop a light coat of paint to get a crisp outer edge. With the shield removed I work on getting the paint into the fabric starting with the perimeter edge. To create a nice smooth and consistent line make sure to hold your airbrush with both hands while leaning the non trigger hand up against the painting surface to give you some stability. The key here is to be comfortable. I have practice sheets all over, these are essential in mak- ing sure your airbrush is working perfectly. I always try it out before shooting paint on the real thing. I added some white highlights on the nose, upper lip below nose, dots in the eyes, right side of face and below the eye, after I applied a quick fog of transparent golden yellow mostly in the darker shadowed areas.

I then added the shade on the lips using just a bit of black paint to avoid any hot spots. Only one shot at this with the black so you want to lay it down as thin as possible and make more passes until you have it just right. I also try to create some texture to the lip. With the opaque white, I add the highlights on the lower lip. Have to work close to get this fine and detailed. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32