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Is it the paint or is it the painter.
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Message
Posted
Sylvia - just do it; you won't know until you try whether you can do it or not. Take a number of the photos you have, do a series of sketches from them, measure proportions with dividers, remember the mouth is the most mobile part of the face and that's generally where likenesses are captured or lost, from my (very) limited experience of painting portraits. And if you make a pig's ear of it, well - you can imagine Bill chuckling indulgently at you.
Posted
Ha ha, that last sentence is good. Yes, get rid of the fear and start! Apologise to Bill before you get cracking, only you will know what he’ll say. Why not try a charcoal first - subtraction method. I know you’ve done this…cover with charcoal and take out the lights, you’ll see something recognisable quite quickly. You can do this with paint as well, cover the support with dark ( brown or grey mix), take out the lights, strengthen the darks ( no details yet), you’ll see whether it’s accurate enough. I never measure accurately but adjust as I go along. The middle part of the painting is the tricky bit. The trouble with advice is that we all give different advice.
Re the garden, Sylvia, you’re right! Too wet. Back to painting.
Edited
by Marjorie Firth
Posted
You’ll be fine, you life drawing is excellent.
I’d put a thin wash of something dark like burnt umber or even raw umber over your support.
Then use the tried and tested grid system with added diagonal lines as well. This will give you a good degree of accuracy in your initial drawing out, for which I’d use a No2 soft synthetic round brush and something verging on 100% raw umber.
Mix a quantity of a base colour that will be your mid range starting point,
Once you’ve established the main areas of importance, start to block in all the darkest tones… build it up in layers using subtle mixes from your main base colour, adding a range of colours and say titanium white or unbleached titanium white to this base, working up to the lightest skin tones and highlights.
My preference is to use a hog filbert which gives you softer edges, and paint using a series of bold but small-ish brush strokes. I like to see painterly brush strokes, I don’t like blended colours, but that’s just me!
It’s more complicated to explain it than actually do it!
Make a start and ask for further advice along the way!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
Sylvia I cannot offer advice as I’m hopeless at portrait painting and keep well away from them . What I do know is that you are a skilled and competent painting, so get on with it woman. If Bill , bless him had the same humour as you , he would be winding you up at the dithering and delay. He will be chuckling away at you muttering as your painting it as well .
Finally just go for it Sylvia and surprise yourself, as I know lots of love will be going into the portrait along with beautiful memories. Enjoy your time painting it.
Edited
by Paul (Dixie) Dean
Posted
Well almost ashamed to post this, it’s a first practice. No I was not married to Ken Dodd… a suggestion was made to start with eyes so I did and the teeth gnawed in. I will try all different methods . My lovely gessoed board is on order so will be perfect ny then.
Went to life drawing this morning and am finding the model merges into the cream coloured walls. Might opt out of that.
Onwards and upwards. The next will be better…hopefully. 