INTRODUCTION: Materials and Preparation

Surface: 16” x 20” store bought, acrylic primed canvas. Even though the canvas comes primed, I like to add a layer or two of primer myself. This keeps the surface from being too absorbent. I tone it with a thin Burnt umber wash, staining the canvas.

Colors: Alizarin Crimson, ultramarine blue, cad yellow light, burnt umber, ivory black, titanium white

Brushes: 1” inch square for blocking and smoothing, half-inch flat/filbert, one quarter inch flat for details, a small round for drawing finishing touches. I will sometimes use a fan brush for smoothing, but I didn't with this piece.

Medium: turpenoid for drawing, blocking layers.

PART 1: Drawing

I start with burnt umber, thinned to the consistency of watercolor. I loosely sketch my subject, thinking about placement and general proportions. Though I loosely mark the general placement of the individual features, I'm more concerned with the larger light and shadow areas. Once I am happy with the placement, I begin marking and shaping the facial features. During this process I have my brush in one hand and a rag in the other. The rag works like an eraser on a pencil. If I draw something incorrectly, I wipe it off and draw it again. At this stage, I'm not worried about things like the eyes, lips, or hair. I'm focused more on the overall shape of the face, the eye socket, and shadows of the nose and cheek. When I'm satisfied with the drawing, I use a rag with a little turpenoid and wipe out the highlight areas.

PART 2: Blocking

With the drawing complete, I now begin blocking-in the larger shapes of the composition. I use paint thinned with a little paint-thinner, but not as thin as water color. I like the paint to be about the consistency of melted butter. This makes the paint very thin and fluid and can be applied very quickly. With a large square brush, I start with the background color, loosely blocking it in around my drawing. Background color in place, I now begin blocking in the hair, breaking it into two general shapes: a light side and a dark side. I do the same thing with the shirt. Once all the surrounding colors are blocked in, I now begin blocking the face. I do the face last because I've learned that making realistic skintones depends a lot on how the colors interact with the colors around them. By getting all the other colors in place, I can now make better decisions on what colors to use for the face. While a bit more detailed than the other areas, My goal is still to reduce the face into two basic shapes, the light side and dark side. I then take a large, dry brush and simplify the entire composition into large, simple shapes.

PART 3: Painting and Smoothing

Everything up to this point has been sketching or designing. All the paint that's on the canvas will be covered up. Now I being what I like to think of as the actual painting. With a half-inch square brush (or sometimes a filbert), I begin creating the features, painting over the work I've done and correcting any drawing issues I come across. I don't worry about the eyes or the lips, those are better left for the very end. Every so often, I take a large, dry brush, and reduce the painting back to the larger, general shapes. As I do this, this features will become more and more accurate. If the paint gets too thick or my colors start getting overworked, I may lightly scrape away the excess paint with a palette knife. This process can sometimes take awhile, correcting the features, then reducing them to simple shapes until the likeness is accurate.

PART 4: Details and Finishing

I now simplify the features one last time. I don't necessarily smooth all of them, but rather I target the areas I want to smooth out, leaving other areas as they are. Now I paint in the eyes and the finer facial features. I use a small brush for the final details like the brightest highlights and reflections in the eye. I paint the shirt, hair, and background, using the same process I used for the face.