Edges

For me there is an almost instinctive choosing of

what edges I make soft and which ones are painted

with a crisp edge, a sharp demarkation.

Here you see the edges of the arm are soft and the

edges of the fabrics are mostly crisp and sharp. Flesh

is soft and so soft edges make sense in order to convey

this quality. The fabric elements seen here, are rather

flat and are one layer over another, so sharpness of each

edge helps convey that.

Often I will paint an edge 'hard' and then I will use a sable

brush to blend it and soften it up almost imperceptibly.

Sable brushes are mainly for such blending and softening

because the bristles are not stiff and will not move the paint

around much ~ just enough to blend things.