Crafts » Tutorials » From Concubine to Empress

These are small, sucky process shots for an acrylic painting I christened "From Concubine to Empress", having just read a ton of literature on the 1800's China. The painting didn't come out as I had planned but not too bad either. And I know, I was too lazy to paint the hands. It happens!

This is where we end up at: the finished acrylic painting. Preliminary PS sketch -> lead pencil sketch on cardboard Cutting stencils for coloring the background / making the patterns on the dress Stencilling the black background. I was supposed to use black spray paint but didn't have any left so I opted for acrylics. Stencilling the red circle. Coloring in the base shades of the garments Adding some light shadows Adding darker shadows; defining general shape of the 'do Developing the face Still needs jewelry + dress embroidery Close-up of the head w/ the jewelry and flowers Added garment patterns Finished painting Finished painting; close-up