Today, May 18, I launch my newest video tutorial. How to paint a portrait in watercolour. Continue reading “How to paint a portrait in watercolour”
How to paint a portrait in watercolour
Commissioned children portraits
For my assignments, especially commissioned children portraits, I always work from photography. You know that by now. I travel with my entire photo gear to the sitter´s home – hopefully to return with good material. Continue reading “Commissioned children portraits”
Thoughts on preparing the palette
Some thoughts on preparing the palette.
Never skimp on the good stuff. Cheap materials make cheap artwork! I’ll give you a few some thoughts on preparing the palette.
Put enough paint on your palette without retrenchment. Especially the colours you will use often, such as white, yellow ocher, cadmium red and burnt sienna. I often see students adding medium hoping to obtain more amount of paint. Always use the same order. The sequence you determine yourself, for example the darks left, white in the middle, and the lights on the right, or from dark to light with white left. Or the yellows and reds at the right and the blues and greens at the left side. It does not really matter as long as you always keep a fixed order. You must find your way blindly. (keep your kitchen organized!) Continue reading “Thoughts on preparing the palette”
Portrait painting lessons (5) flesh colours
In portrait painting it is all about putting the right colour on the right place.
As simple as that. And I’ve spent my entire artistic career with the question “What is the right colour and where is the right place?”
Major problems should be divided into smaller ones. Also in portrait painting. Like the composition, the drawing, the colour contrast, the ciaroscuro, the likeness. All these topics should be solved individually. So I was convinced of the importance of coming up with a reliable approach to portrait painting. Each artist has his own method, either self invented or handed by teachers. As a painter I am selfmade. Over the years I gathered information from wherever I could. I found my way of working, allthough I keep changing now and then. Here I like to share my experiences. Continue reading “Portrait painting lessons (5) flesh colours”
Examples in detail
Last month someone asked for the original photographs of “Little Boy” and “Little Girl” From today they are free to download here. I’ve also added the pictures of the painted portraits.
Portrait painting from life, underpainting
In this short portrait portrait painting from life, underpainting, demonstration video I only use raw umber.
If you have the opportunity to paint from observation you should do so as much as possible.
To begin with, I give the entire canvas a very thin wash of raw umber with standard painting medium.
Then, using a flat synthetic brush I put down the first contours. I determine where the eyes, nose and mouth are.
Continue reading “Portrait painting from life, underpainting”
Skin colours in portrait painting
Every so often I get the question of what colours skin tone is composed. I can not possibly answer that question because every complexion has its own composition.
In the two in-depth video tutorials I show exactly which colour and in what quantity in the different parts of the face, I used to paint the portrait.
Portrait painting lessons (6) Shadow
Don´t be afraid of the shadows.
In one way or another, in virtually all students I see a fear of making shadows in portrait painting. The restraint is so obvious and common that I wondered what might be the cause. I think it comes down to two.
Continue reading “Portrait painting lessons (6) Shadow”
Portrait painting and filming
It happens to everyone once and a while: the loss of documents in the computer. Five years ago I almost finished the editing of my third long video demonstration. By bad luck, I lost all the work. I was defeated and angry at myself for disconnecting the hard drive from my computer without the necessary precautions. Months and months of work lost! A negligence which I had to atone a longtime. Eventually the footage could be retrieved by a specialist company in Madrid, but the editing had gone forever. I am taking charge of the project again. From now I will be spending all available time behind the screens. I hope to finish the project by summer. I will keep you posted.
Portrait painting video & PDF
Soon my new blog will be launched, with a new design, and adapted to the requirements of Google for mobile phones etc. It’s a big project and I am working on it with my friend Bas in France. Apart from this project I also have a list of commissions to be painted and delivered by mid-November. So you see, I’m really busy. Barely time to write you. But what I want to tell you is that we have started again with our weekly portrait painting from life sessions. For two hours each week I work from a live model with a number of fellow artists here in the village. It’s really fun to paint together.
I´m planning to make a short video or a PDF file from it soon, and will keep you informed.