Catrina with Curly Teal Hair

Day of the Dead by way of a fashion illustration. The Catrina makeup is delicate — fine teal scrollwork, a small pink-and-orange flower centered on the forehead, scalloped marigold eye sockets — and the hair spills into deep teal ringlets tucked with yellow roses. Everything is rendered in painterly blocks of color rather than line-heavy detail.

The dominant tension is between the cold teal hair and the warm orange flowers, and almost every coloring decision flows from how hard you want to push that contrast. Skin and shoulders are kept almost monochrome to let the face and hair carry the attention. A good fit for colorists who like portrait work over busy backgrounds.