The Longest Grass

I started a sketch of my son. On the last painting I said the head was too small to get much detail into. This face is only marginally bigger. Maybe the size of a silver dollar rather than a loonie. None the less, I like the sketch so far because the likeness seems to be there.

One thing I'm trying with this sketch is working from a b&w reference photo. I'm hoping it will help get the tones relatively correct with more ease and not being fooled by changes in colour.

I did a crosshatch with the watercolour pencils to add colour to the background. Then I tried to take that texture out with a wet paintbrush and just have a solid colour background. I didn't bother to scrub all lines out.  I figure when I add the grass in with the pencils after the paper dries, it won't be too noticeable 

After the paper dried I added more lines for hair and grass and emphasized the dark part of the eyes, nose, and mouth. 

I'm pretty happy with the end result. There wasn't as much magic if paint is applied on wet paper with a brush. But I'll stick with this technique for a few more paintings and see if it keeps improving.