A realism bust for Mondeis! I got very carried away with this one, so it became much bigger/more detailed than my usual busts. In fact, this piece will now serve as an example of a new realism tier that sits between 'bust' and 'waist up'.

This was my first piece using a new technique where I paint the entire image in greyscale and then apply color via layers afterwards. I really like this method of working since it lets me focus on tone and texture first and then worry about color later. I have included a step by step image showing how the image progressed. After the final B&W image was finished I did the coloring in Photoshop but then transferred the image over to Adobe Lightroom 5 for final color tinting to help bring it all together.