Oil Painting – young woman smile green 01
A very important painting for me, it was the first time that I had really used a pure lamp black background in a portrait. The subject is in direct light so the shadows were very strong in this portrait. I wanted to paint these dark values to see the effect that it had on the skin tones.
Painting time: 1 hour
Painting Technique – Initial sketch
This was another painting where most of the initial sketch was about getting the angle of the head right. Anytime my initial sketch was off by a few degrees I found that I started painting the features of the face in weird positions – possibly because the brain tries to correct for the incorrect angle that it sees.
Painting Technique – Brushwork
The brushwork here isn’t as loose as I usually get. I found that I didn’t need to be all that bold with my strokes in this painting as she has soft skin that blends together.
close up of paint effect on eyes
Painting Technique – Skin tones, colors and values..
I remember being aware on this portrait about how blending can be achieved by the values of the paint you lay down. By stepping down the value of a skin tone you can achieve so much in terms of dimensionality.. Even subtle shifts in value like on the right cheek can create a form.
oil painting alla prima
Painting Technique – overall image
Overall this painting was really about capturing the smile and light in her eyes. I knew that if I got that right the whole style of the portrait was going to follow.
