I’ve painted the Magician’s raised hand holding the bowl, with the first layer of some flames burning in it. To complete it I’ll glaze over this white fire with some yellow. I don’t think that the colour needs to get too complex in this case, fire being pure light; the challenge here is get the transparency of the flames correct. I mulled over designing the wand for a while, and decided not to make it too complex, because I thought it would be more of a distraction than a good addition.
The hand was a bit tricky because the fingers were stacked on top of each other, but I resolved it by simplifying the arrangement a little. I enjoyed adding some Prussian Blue to the shadows beside the lapel of the jacket and into the hair, making a very deep dark over the brown and creating a soft blue edge around the hair on the back of her head, an effect that I have loved for many years. I also glazed the rings in the belt with the blue, making it ready for white highlights tomorrow.
