Brendan Behan

Michael Gavan Duffy demonstrates a portrait of Brendan Behan in acrylics.

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Capturing the human face

In recent times I have concentrated on portrait painting as the human face has always captivated my imagination.

Every face tells its own unique story, and I try to capture the essence and character of each subject, be they famous or not. Some of my favourite pieces are of local individuals who just have 'great faces'. However when it comes to commissions, it is generally a famous person from some field (sport, music, literature etc) that I get asked to paint.

For this project I have focussed on my most recent commission, that of Brendan Behan the legendary Irish playwright and raconteur.

I searched around for a suitable image of the subject, one that in my estimation would be instantly recognizable and also reveal the personality of the person.

I worked from a black and white photo of Brendan, supplied by the client, which I painted in full colour.

Demonstration: Brendan Behan

Stage one

I started by doing pencil sketches to get a feel for the subject, then, when I felt I had 'nailed' the likeness and proportions, I sketched onto the canvas with a graphite pencil.

Stage two

The next step was to cement the image onto the canvas with waterproof ink, I highlighted the important features and let this dry.

Stage three

I never like painting on white canvas so at this stage I applied an acrylic wash.

I vary the colour of the wash depending on the subject, in this case I used orange because Behan was a fiery character and it sets the tone for the painting.

Stage four

I use the 'squint method' for identifying the tonal structure of the face and proceed to map out the face in patches of colour.

Most of the early applications are darker than the finished painting will convey, as I like the dark to light process of painting.

With acrylic the drying times are quite fast so one does not have to worry about 'fat over lean' as you would with oils. This is just my preference because I like to slap it on thick.

Stage five

After several layers of colour each one getting a shade lighter the face begins to come alive.

I like to fill my palette with vibrant colours and I think that is reflected in the finished piece. I predominantly use flat brushes for my work creating broad strokes on the canvas.

Into the final phase of the work I applied as much colour as needed to give a sense of balance, speckling colours from garments through the face, or even letting the background colour seep into the facial features.

It’s important to keep experimenting as I do not want all my portraits to look the same despite the fact that I have a certain style which most people can readily identify with.

Stage six

The final touch was to add black strokes with a fine brush which for me acts like a binding agent, it seems to tie the whole image together for me.

This happened purely by chance as I had once completed a piece that I was not at all happy with, so I just set about repairing mistakes with black strokes and I liked the end result.

I have refined the strokes now to highlight the tonal areas of the face and for the foreseeable future will continue to do so.

Stage seven - the finished portrait

When the painting was fully dry added a couple of coats of clear gloss varnish which really brings out the vibrant nature of the acrylics and for me enhances the finished piece.


Michael Gavan Duffy is based in Blackrock, Co Louth, Ireland and has been a professional artist since 2006. To date there have been five solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions.

To view more of Michael's recent work, check out www.mgduffy.nobullart.com.

You can also see more of Michael's work in the Painters-Online gallery by clicking here


This demonstration originally featured on the April 2015 bonus features e-newsletter. Make sure you are opted in to receive more features like this from PaintersOnline gallery artists.

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