Robin, The Hooded Man

Tuesday, 8th of May

Today was pretty frustrating.  I started off okay I realized that the head and the hood on the picture were too big so I fixed that then the painting was fine as I started with the clothing, then I got to the face and it just wouldn't bloody work.  I did numerous different layers and I couldn't really get there.  After lunch I decided to carry on with the rest and did the hands.  I was a lot happier with those.

I actually ended up removing the face completely casting him into shadow and making the figure alround more mysterious.  I think that's one of the exciting things about Robin Hood, he really is a "Legend" we have no idea whether he was real or not.  I think by actually leaving him anonymous he fits in better with the whole legend theme.

I made the contrast quite high on this version, not quite sure if that's right yet, will see when I finish off the page.

I also quickly tried out printed on tracing paper with the ink jet printer today to see whether it would be possible to use it for the tree page.  It did smudge a bit but I think if I can keep the paper straight it should be okay.  I prefer this to using sheets because it's got a slight whiteness to it which obscures the next page a bit more adding to the mysteriousness (is that a word? :S).  Also normal printers of course don't print white so it will make the images look a bit less odd.  Obviously also this is the distance get paler so it should help add depth.