BEHIND THE SCENES: Portrait Painting in Progress

I'm currently working on a portrait commission for a friend whose son has been playing hockey in Canada.  He wanted an action pose, so he sent me some photos of JJ, taken during a game.

I start with a pencil drawing, which I send back to my friend for approval.

After getting Scott's approval, I enlarge the drawing to the size that we've agreed upon . . . 

Then, I prepare the watercolor paper.  I stretch it onto gatorboard, and paint a wet-in-wet underpainting . . 

After the paper is bone dry and flat again, I transfer the drawing onto the paper, using transfer paper. . . 

Now, it's time to paint.  (First, I rub an eraser lightly over all the graphite lines, to lighten them a bit.)  I start with yellows and golds . . .

Then, I paint the reds -- very lightly . . . 

Now, for the light blues.  I also use the light cobalt blue to lay in some shadows, to start getting some form in his jersey and legs . . .

So, this is the first pass, where I get all the colors in, very lightly.  I'm not using any masking, so I need to preserve the white of the paper.

I then start painting the medium values . . . 

Stay tuned for the finished painting, and all the steps leading up to it.  I will be finishing this week, since it needs to be matted and shipped to arrive before Mother's Day!