Can't You See the Private Jets Flying Over You?

For the head and hands assignment, I tried to capture a rapper in the height of a performance. I think rappers are interesting personalities, because they get thousands of people to scream they're heads off at glorified poetry slams.

After collecting reference for the colours and lighting, I do a quick value/ colour "map" to give me an idea of how the final painting will look.

Next I do a basic flats/ screen/ multiply layer composition to establish a cleaner base to paint from. After it's done, I flatten it and paint on a layer on top of it. This way, any mistakes won't destroy my underpainting, and I can always reference back to it.

Quick recomposition at Omar's request. Apparently you need to see more of the torso, or somethin'.

Details

Here's the final. I would have liked to keep the chains in it, but it would just be too much painting. There are a few areas I would like to clean up a bit, but overall I'm really pleased with it.