Valkyrie...Initial Coloring

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Good afternoon denizens of the state; today's coming forth w/ an update of the Valkyrie commission I'm doing for a friend on 1Up.com.  We've done business for little over a year; he's been my only commissioner so far but I sincerely value the contact we've had, as I've learned a bit more about the model and, hey, from here things can only get better right?

  As you can see here, I've mainly just been focusing on laying in the initial color blocks.  Tbh I know a medium other than acrylics, like goauche or casein, would have been better for this method.  That said, I only have acrylics on hand and since they're fluids, it wasn't that hard to get the consistency downpat and JUST thin enough but thick enough all the same.  I think I have a very solid idea how to proceed forward w/ this piece but you must understand that almost every concept being employed here is a case of "learning as I go".  In other words, it's the first picture employing most of what I've been learning over the past couple of months on my own, and I would like the final product to reflect the original vision.  Still a long ways to go on that front, but we're getting there (slowly).

  So far, if I can levy any complaints on what's been the toughest thing, it's actually been mixing up these colors.  Yep, no pre-made paint colors other than the primaries and some white/black/brown for me x3.  Trying to emulate other colors in this fashion w/ a limited palette is extremely difficult, and I've gone as far as to use GIMP for value mapping.  Countless swatches have been painted and in fact more are being painted as I come up w/ different ratios for new colors.  The one big drawback I see already is that, if realism was the intent, I'd be screwed over.  A lot of the colors in that Valkyrie picture use heavy doses of Titanium White, which tends to dull the color.  I would probably need to buy a wider range of primaries and a few complementary colors to get the same colors I've made swatches of so far but w/ greater vibrancy (of course, a little glazing could liven up some of the duller colors, but it's a very case-by-case issue).

  I still need to do the color blocking for her eyes, eyelashes, eyebrows and mouth, but from there I can proceed to the next step.  Very tempted still to use a variation of the dead layer technique in this..I feel it could benefit my style.  I'll just read and study on it more the next few days and see just how much to incorporate it.  Also been considering trying impasto and sgaffito in some areas; again, just considering the options.  One thing is for certain though:  I feel much more confident in my painting skills and color theory conceptualizations now, and would like to keep improving them both.  Just finding the right balance of study and practice, that's what it really comes down to eh?

   Next time I post anything up on this will be when she's nearly done, so in the meantime just keep a lookout for other WIPs and random musings.  Be back l8r, hope you all like the work and catch 'ya next time.  L8r :)