Yes, painting is a practise in patience. I don’t know how a painting will turn out until the very last touch-up. Which is why the results often surprise me.
I bought 100 sheets of 390 gsm paper for practise. Watercolor paper is expensive so I scouted around for alternatives. This is Acquarello paper from Prestige Paper Products. I think this will do for practises. It doesn’t wrinkle much, but it can’t be used for portraiture.
I got the idea for this painting from Pavel Guzenko’s works – Sparkling Eyes. The original was painted in oil. The colors were more vibrant and the eye was grayish. I decided to do a brown and stick to watercolor because I want to explore the medium. However, I got impatient (again) and used acrylic paint for the white reflections.
Yes, seems like once I am done with 100 portraits, I shall do 100 studies on reflective surfaces.