Blog

Beginning the flesh layers

I paint portraits in a different way. I don’t use color strings. I mix a flesh tone in a medium range but it actually looks sort of like the color of a Teracota pot, then I dilute it with Grumbacher Gel to make it transparent. Apply it thinly but evenly over a section of flesh and then sculpt with white to achieve the brights as you did in the first part. This layer always looks blotchy so don’t worry about it being perfect. Every layer will improve the surface and the skin will look supple and alive. Try to improve the likeness with each pass. Keep in mind that light and it’s effects will be the best addition to a good portrait. Without the light, you cannot see the shape or color or expression.
Now that the likeness is more established, I will begin to add darks to bring out some of the details such as wrinkles in fabric, deep bends in body, for instance elbow and fingers, and I will plot all the darks of the hair and the pup’s fur.
Take notice that I have not painted in the eye lashes with thick dark paint. Later when the portrait is almost complete, I will use a transparent dark for the lashes. I always recommend using a transparent dark even for very dark lashes. It just helps make them seem more natural.
People often ask how soon till the portrait is finished? It would take a very long time to list all the work that must still be completed. No one gets it. A puzzle can only be put together one piece at a time and a portrait is sort of like that. Today, I can only put in the next piece or two. How can I ever let you peek into my artistic mind and let you see what must still happen. If I sew a dress, I can show you the pattern, the fabric and explain the steps of putting it together. It is similar with a house or a piece of furniture. But how can a sculptor tell you how to find a body inside the stone? I might be able to tell you the basic steps to a portrait but never explain the finesse necessary to make it a masterpiece!
Standard

Leave a comment