Painting A Complete Portrait

Transcription

1 Week 6 So this is it, the final week of the course. We have learnt all the theory we need to know and we have painted all the individual parts of the face. Now it's time we put all our knowledge together and start painting full portraits. This week we will do just that. As always, if you have any questions about last week's class, you can ask them on the forum over here : Painting A Complete Portrait I have chosen to do this portrait : 302

2 I liked the friendly atmosphere of the scene, plus it had great contrast to work with. I am going to explain step for step what I did to complete this painting. The steps you follow may differ. All I want to do here is run you through the painting and thought process that I use when painting a full portrait. Step 1 I started off by printing out the photo using Corel Draw. This program allows me to print a photo larger than A4 / Letter by printing over multiple pages. I can then specify what percentage overlap I want on each page. Many graphics programs, like Adobe Photoshop) have this print feature. There are two reasons for me doing this : 1) I now don't have any drawing work to do, so I have saved a lot of time. 2) I now have a reference photo which is exactly the same size as the one on my canvas so it is easier for me to judge proportions and shadings. If you are not lucky enough to have one of these programs, it really doesn't matter. You will print out on A4 / Letter as normal and use one of the transfer methods from week 1 to draw out the lines for your portrait. If you have done your homework from last week you will already have your drawing work complete ;-) Step 2 I stick the print to the window and colour in the lines using my watercolour pencil. Step 3 Transfer the lines to my canvas and baking paper. After I remove the print from the canvas, I then stick it to the wall as reference. Step 4 I mix up the 3 main tonal values for the portrait highlight, mid tone and shadow using my computer screen as reference to get the best possible colour matches. I have marked the colour I mixed in the photo below : 303

3 The colours I used were : Titanium White, Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine and Cadmium Yellow. My palette looked like this : Next I mixed up the colours for the iris using Titanium White, Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine and Cadmium Yellow. I mixed up the main eye colour and the dark ring around the edge of the iris using the left hand eye as reference. I was now ready to start painting : 304

4 Step 5 Starting with the left eye I paint that in. Every colour I need I find my closest matching colour on the palette and make small impromptu mixes with the brush to match the correct colour. I use the photo on the computer screen throughout to match all my colours. I start with the iris, then the white of the eye, then the upper eyelid, then the lower eyelid and the surrounding area. Lastly I paint the pupil and the reflections in the eye. Things I look out for are : 1) Getting the iris perfectly round 2) Showing the rounding of the eyeball 3) Showing the shadow on the eyeball cast by the upper eyelid 4) Getting the crease in the upper eyelid 5) Showing that the upper and lower eyelids are round by carefully observing the shadings 6) Showing the thickness of the lower eyelid. I didn't paint the eyelashes in yet as I was still getting a feel for the colours. If I paint the eyelashes too soon and find the skin colours are not correct, then it's very difficult to squeeze the correct colours in afterwards. This is what the canvas looked like : 305

5 I then moved on to the right eye looking out for exactly the same things. Once I was happy and had a better feel for the colour mixes, I painted in the eyelashes. You can even leave the eyelashes until the entire portrait is complete before painting them in if you wanted to. Things I look out for while painting the eyelashes are : 1) Making them look natural by clumping them together 2) Carefully observing there directions 3) Carefully observing their lengths. This is what the eyes looked like : 306

6 Step 6 I then closed the gap between the eyes by painting the nose. Here I concentrated on : 1) Lost and found lines 2) Showing all three planes 3) Getting the moulding on the tip of the nose correct 4) Showing the looking in effect at the nostrils 5) Showing an reflections and reflected light This is what the nose looked like : 307

7 Step 7 Moving outward I painted in the two cheeks and the upper lip. When painting the cheeks I try to show : 1) The rounding caused by the cheek bone on the front of the face 2) Any imperfections on the flat surface on the side of the face 3) The tonal value change between the front and side of each cheek. 4) Any reflections and reflected light effects. When painting the upper lip I look out for : 1) The tonal value difference between the left and right side 2) Showing the concave effect created by the philtrum 3) Ensuring there are no found lines 4) Showing any shadow cast by the nose. 5) Indicating the furrow correctly As I don't know the model I decide to leave out the beauty spot on her left cheek. This is what the painting looks like so far : 308

8 Step 8 Continuing my path downwards I paint the mouth and chin. While painting the mouth I look out for : Top Lip : 1) Showing the looking in effect created by showing the inside of the lip darker 2) Showing the tonal value differences caused by the angle change on each side 3) Softening the edge where the upper lip and top lip meet so I don't get a lipstick look. 4) Painting in the highlight on the upper lip where it meets the top lip. 5) Showing the darkening effect in the corners of the mouth Bottom Lip: 1) Showing the roundness of the lip left to right by looking for the tonal changes. 2) Showing the fullness of the bottom lip by looking for the tonal changes from front (inside where it meets the teeth) to back (outside). There is always a lighter area showing this. 3) Further showing the fullness by indicating the cracks in the lips 4) Showing the darkening effect in the corners of the mouth 5) Softening the edge where the lower lip and bottom lip meet so I don't get a lipstick look. 6) Painting in any reflections on the bottom lip Teeth: 1) Showing the different tonal values in each tooth as each tooth is at a different angle because of the rounding of the mouth. 2) Showing the roundness of each tooth 3) Getting the colour correct on each tooth 4) Getting the angle of each tooth correct 5) Showing the subtle roundness of the gums 6) Making the gums meet the teeth naturally by softening the edge where they meet 7) Showing depth in the mouth with a very dark skin tone. 8) Making the teeth gleam by looking out for the reflections Chin and Lower Lip: 1) Showing the tonal value change between the 3 planes on the lower lip as well as on the chin. 2) Tying up the areas where the upper and lower lip meet. 3) Tying in the area where the chin and cheek meet including any dimples 4) Showing the tonal change between the center of the lower lip and chin, looking out for any lost / found lines 5) Showing the dimple on the center of the chin 6) Looking out for any reflections on the chin 7) Looking out for any reflected light effects on the chin and lower lip. 8) Showing the underside of the chin by completing the rounding on the underside (darken the edge to show it curls underneath). This helps show the distance of the face away from the neck. 309

9 The painting now looks like this : I also decided to be pro-active and paint in the shadow cast by the left thumb. 310

10 Step 9 I then use my original shadow mix and a lighter version to suggest the shape of the neck : 311

11 Step 10 At this point I removed the baking paper to paint the forehead (the baking paper was only wide enough to cover the main facial features. I then painted in the forehead paying special attention to : 1) Showing the rounding of the forehead by looking out for the change in tonal values 2) Looking out for the keystone effect 3) Showing any reflections and reflected light effects. 4) Looking for any shadows cast by the hair. This is what the painting looks like now : 312

12 Step 11 Now it's time for the hair. As my palette is currently pretty full from all the impromptu mixes : I decide to clean it. Even though I have completed the face, I still need the original skin tones for the hands so I scoop the 3 original piles to the side like this : 313

13 I now mix the main colours I see in the hair as shown below as well as the grey for the background: 314

14 My palette now looks like this : I paint in the background and then the hair. I start off with values only, blending them into each other. I then suggest the detail in the hair with thinned down paint and a rigger brush. To get the vignetting effect I gradually show less and less detail towards the back of the head. I look out for : 1) Contrasts that will show me the moulding / curves in the hair 2) Clumps of hair 3) Highlights and shadows next to each each other that will show depth 4) Directions of the hair 315

15 This is what the left hand side looks like : 316

16 Here is a close up so you can see the vignetting effect better : 317

17 Before I can paint in the right hand side I need to paint the shirt and background. I decide that the plain white background looks boring so I add a touch of shading to it using the grey mixed for the left hand background plus white. I then paint the shirt being careful not to add too much detail. The colours I used where Viridian Green, Alizarin Crimson, Titanium White and French Ultramarine. With that complete I paint in the hair on the right hand side as well as on the neck. Again I use the vignetting effect to add detail next to the face and less the further away from the face I move: At this point it feels like the painting should be finished, but there is still a way to go the hands, but at least I can get a good feel for what the final painting will look like so that is great motivation to continue. 318

18 Step 12 As my palette now looks like this and I need space to work with skin tones again, I move the hair colours off to the side again and clean the canvas : 319

19 The original skin tone mixes are starting to become a bit too thick now so I mix up a fresh batch using the original mixes as reference. I then paint in the hands without any detail like creases or folds to ensure that they don't compete with the main features in the face (our focal point). The hands are just there to add a fun touch to the scene and help frame the face. With that the portrait is complete and I sign it feeling pretty satisfied with the results of the past 14 hours worth of painting : 320

20 Renoir's Progress We have been working very hard over the past 6 weeks to catch up to the years of trial and error that Renoir had to put into his portraits to become a master portrait artist. Let's take a look at his progress over the years to see how he progressed : 321

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24 If however you look through the chronological order of Renoir's paintings you will actually see a huge fluctuation between many paintings of the same period. The only explanation I have for this is either that the dating of the paintings is incorrect or that Renoir sometimes just painted from memory. What is certain is the fact that Renoir did not fully understand perspective, if at all, and this shortcoming is clearly visible in the portraits where he did not paint from a model for the entire duration of the painting. What is also clear is that not every portrait Renoir painted was a master piece, in fact I estimate that at least 50% of the portraits we know of are anything but master pieces. We don't even know about any paintings that may have ended up in the bin. He did however paint enough master pieces over a span of many years to ensure himself a place in the history books of art. Throughout the course we have learnt just as much from Renoir's flops as from his master pieces and I hope you will continue this tradition. Not every portrait you paint is going to be a master piece, and that is fine. As long as you learn from your mistakes, you will always continue to improve. All that is left now is for you to put all you have learn into practice, starting with the portrait you drew onto your canvas last week. Good luck and please remember to continue to post your portraits on the forum so I can continue to give you feedback on your progress : Have fun Nolan Clark 325