Urban Angel portrait is inspired by model Zuri Tibby, I used a picture that I found in Glamour magazine as the reference photo. This portrait was painted in watercolours first for most of the face and neck, then oil paints for the hair and background and parts of the face and then watercolours again. I also then corrected the eye as she was looking a bit cross eyed on the painting above. I use water mixable oils but the water element is for the cleaning of the brushes and mixing mediums are still used. Plus I use a variety of chemical layers in between swapping from painting with oils and watercolours so either type of paint has a solid surface to hold onto to. Portrait by Artist Sophie H.

Zuri Tibby – finished portrait. Painting in watercolours and oil paints requires in-between coatings of the paper to hold the different types of paint. As you know oils float on water so the paper surface required for watercolours is very different to the surface required for oil paints, But as I like to push the boundaries of paint I combine the two. I have only just learned that blending the watercolour parts and oil parts needs attention, as it can end up looking like a card board cut out if done incorrectly, so this is an improvement. This is my first try at painting dark skin and took me 1 hour to draw, 1 hour watercolours, 1.5 hours oil paints and a further 1 hour watercolours. I thought the glittery face was a bit sweet so I gave her more of an urban attitude makeover. This is on the ‘portraits’ page of my full artist’s website. Size A4 painting of Zuri Tibby portrait by Sophie Huddlestone