Step 4 & 5 of my self portrait.

Now I've taken about 10 hours to layer the colours in the hair. The reason I took so much time was reworking all the colours in the right places. I used a black mixed with a brownish-red to accent the dark areas first. Then I went in and I used a mix of gold oxide and a deep red to show the highlights between the darkest areas and the lightest areas. I used yellow oxide and cadmium yellow light in the turning points of the highlights, that is the area on either side of the lightest area which is highlighted in white. I also used a greened down yellow in the areas where the hair strands were turning away from the light and into the dark ares. If you look closely you can see those sections.
It is important to learn the different turning points of light and what colours make up these areas.

There are four areas or light I focused on. The obvious ones being the darkest and the lightest areas. Then there are the two areas where the light turns the colours. There is the turning point directly alongside the lightest areas and right next to that is the point of light that softens as it disappears into shadow. There is no easy way to learn this except to study light and light sources and to identify the light source as either being warm or cool. That will determine the colours that are used in the areas of light and dark.

Also, when it comes to painting hair I find that it is one area that is unforgiving. You have to follow the shapes of the light and dark areas and you must use strokes that follow the flow of the hair. Blotches of paint and hair strands that do not follow the natural movement of hair are obvious and can ruin the look of beautiful hair. I tend to use a flat brush to work the initial stages of colour then when I am ready to paint the strands I use a small round brush and go in and paint hundreds of strands of hair until it looks smooth and believable. I'm not a realist so I don't go after that perfect look. I tend to use a combination of dry brushing and smooth brushing.

Step 5 is when I have decided that I want to add some intricate designs that requires me to use a large piece of tracing paper to work out the design I want. At this stage I have not worked on the skin tone as it would be better to design the details I want first.

Many fantasy artists use this method at this stage to work on ornate jewelry or even clothing if they do not have a specific idea in mind, even if they do, tracing paper allows for mistakes that can be rectified without doing any damage to the artwork.