Old/New Technique Test Jerry Stackhouse Portrait

This was a test for a new technique I was trying to develop. Now this is where some people get ticked. The technique involved tracing. Well, I have no problem tracing an image when time is of the essence. I can draw it without tracing, but it will take longer, so really I see it as a tool to speed things up. Now with that said, the theory behind this was to use a sheet of matte mylar. Placing the glossy side against the picture you would be tracing. I would then trace and shade the drawing using a colored pencil. The next step would be to brush a thin coat of matte medium over the base drawing. After it dried, the illustration would be completed using washes of acrylic, colored pencil and white opaque acrylic for the highlights. Now besides the ease of using pictures under the mylar, the added benefit that I saw was that I could in theory paint different color schemes for the background and place under the mylar to see which one I like best. Of course today it is as easy as dropping it in the computer and multiplying it over a color. The technique still intrigues me and I often thing of other ways I could push this. Maybe one day I will revisit and try finishing this portrait of Mr. Stackhouse. The image shown shows the mylar taped to a white board on the left and on the right I slid a piece of red notepaper behind the mylar to show the effect of color dropped behind. The actual image is only about 4 inches tall.