Girl of Nature

This piece is for the Gasparilla contest. I spent the most work on her because she is the only part that will really have fine details. I used acrylic paint and, since it dries so quickly, it was difficult to soften some colors. However, I found that mixing a little more water into the top layers would help it spread and blend better into the solid bottom layers. However, I did have to come to the point of using colored pencils over top the acrylic paint for highlights and shadows. I used markers for the individual strands of hair as well. My original plan for the flowers had been to use one-stroke paint techniques used by Youtuber Donna Dewberry. However, I ended up wanting a more 3D look, so I opted for paper add-ons. I added a little more white with little pearls. I kept to a specific color spectrum of specific greens, with white and pink and accents to the green. The colors were all based around the girl to make her prominent yet a part of the frame. That's why the background is blue; to both signify the sky and to make sure the girl herself is the prominent point of interest.

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