Well I said that I would post the progression of the Poe painting, so here it is.
The first step was to create a very simple under-painting. Most of this will not be visible on the final piece, but it's still very important because what will show through will have a major impact on the final piece. I basically used a two-tone scheme, but I added some orange areas and some dark areas to the red portion so that it would add complexity and definition to the final piece;
Once that was finished I let it harden up a bit and then I applied the top coat with soft Sennelier oil pastels. Again I stuck to a basic two-tone color palate. The basic look I wanted was black and red with alabaster white. Using subtle accents of pale blue, orange, and grey will add depth and richness to the bold color scheme without destroying the effect. Here is the top coat; you can see that it almost completely covers the under painting.
Once that was finished, I only had to add the filigree and the text. To do this I used a stylus (a blunt metal tool) to scrape away the top coat. The colors underneath then show through and reveal the gradations of color. This technique is called "sgraffito", or sometimes just graffito or even graffiti. The next and last thing I did was add some depth with various shades of grey oil pastel. To see the final piece just look at my previous post.
Here is a different detail picture of the final painting, showing some of the knotwork and filigree.
Also, I now have this painting available as a poster and on shirts and more in my Cafepress store;
http://www.cafepress.com/klturner/3166840
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