Airbrush How-Tos Instruction Gorilla Portrait

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This is an original 8x10 portrait using transparent Airbrush Acrylics
with a high gloss clearcoat (some gloss glare is visible in the photo).

Any colour(s) are acceptable for the background
but the portrait itself uses only Black and White
with a little red Brown and dark Blue for effect.

Fine Line control and basic Dagger Strokes
are the most important elements in the production of this artwork.

First step is cut a stencil and get a basic 'map' of the image to paint.

All that is needed is the placement
of some important features to help with the freehand painting of the Gorilla.

Only a light spray is necessary with the stencil cutout,
then start building the contours of the face with simple lines of transparent black.
I start with the darkest areas first
getting a feel for the intensity of the black coverage.

Once all the rough details are in place, its time to darken the eyes,
leaving some reflected white highlights
and then add a dark pupil in each eye.
Then, using basic, but strong dagger strokes,
build the hair that radiates from the face outwards.

Now that all the hair is in place, I use white to strengthen all the highlight areas
and any areas lost by black overspray.
Aswell, add highlights to the hair by using rows of dagger strokes
to create curvature and three dimension to the hair around the face.

Using the transparent black again, but well reduced this time,
I apply an overall wash to soften the strength of all the white highlighting
and to intensify the dark shadows.

The darks and highlights can be worked and reworked if necessary,
until the desired level of contrast is reached.
At some point a background needs to be added,
in this case I used some bright green and the trans black
to create a blurry, out of focus background that creates depth in the image.

Only thing left is to add a little brown reflection to the eyes
...try not to lose the white highlights in the eyes though. Repaint those if necessary!
...and... to give the black fur more intensity of colour and realism,
add a light wash of very dark blue.
I try to apply the blue from one direction just as I would a highlight.
The tough leathery skin of the Gorilla's face can be highlighted with the blue aswell.