Top tips from the workshop

Pose

1. Get to know the subject, talk to family / friends and find a pose that defines them

2. Spend time exploring their face and identifying the critical features and the supporters

3. Take lots of photographs (learn how to manage light with your camera) and be prepared to go back for a second round of pictures if needed

4. Draw the subject from life if possible – a fantastic way to get to know them and explore your approach

5. Use black and White photos where possible for tonal work

6. Position photos far enough away from your easle to resemble painting from life – this avoids ‘seeing’ too much detail in the photo and encourages painting an impression rather than a copy of photograph

Drawing

1. 2b pencil onto primed white canvas making confident lines that describe shapes

2. Paint out mistakes with solid acrylic and draw on top

3. Fix pencil with white acrylic and water using soft brush

4. Always prepare 6+ pencils for drawing to keep sharp points

5. If squaring up use watercolour pencil for the actual squares as these disappear when acrylic is used

6. Always prime a bought canvas with white gesso or acrylic before use, as commercial primers (gesso) are often sprayed on and can be patchy, affecting the application of paint

7. Use cotton buds with one end removed for measuring the features, using masking tape to create the ‘measure’. Use small kebab sticks for the corresponding area on the picture. Both make for more accurate measuring

Medium mix recipe

4 parts turps
2/3 parts linsead oil – lighter and cleaner the better
2/3 parts damar varnish – depending upon sheen required
1 part Venetian turps sometimes known as larch Venice turps (get this from a veterinary supplier because it is much cheaper than art suppliers – try www.tfp.uk.com)

Mixing flesh colour

1. Use flesh tint from a tube and add small amounts of red, alizarin crimson, yellow ochre and white to get a basic flesh colour – using flesh mix straight from a tube and tinting it accordingly ensures less wastage and more consistency of colour, provided the same brand of paint is always used – my recommendation is Jacksons flesh tint

2. Add burnt umber and paynes grey to dirty the flesh colour – this makes it look real!

Tonal painting – high contrast / strong character pictures

1. Ensure pencil is well sealed and strong enough to see through thin dark paint

2. Dilute paynes grey (cooler shadow) and burnt umber (warmer shadow) oil paints with medium mix

3. Paint glaze over picture to opacity required (image underneath just visible) and use cotton cloth to wipe out lighter areas

4. Gradually increase pressure of wiping to create stronger highlights. Then let dry

Adding colour

1. Add flesh colour to picture sparingly building thickness to lightest areas

2. Blend into the edge of darker areas and add more darker glaze to blend back into lighter areas as required

3. Let dry, then add more lights, gradually thickening the paint to create the illusion of coming forward. Add colours as required – greys, greens, blues, reds etc…to enrich the picture

4. When the painting is dry, tint the flesh with a thin glaze to create a ruddy or slightly yellow hue. This can be done with a finger, just like applying make-up

5. Always add a small amount of flesh colour into hair to help it sit on the surrounding flesh

6. To finish a picture you can use a very small amount of ivory black in some glaze medium to cover the whole painting. Wipe off with cloth to leave very subtle glaze in the canvas ‘pits’ and brush strokes. This emphasises the texture and creates realism – repeat the process letting picture dry between applications until right level of depth is created

Tonal painting – lower contrast / softer character pictures

1. Ensure pencil is well sealed and strong enough to see through thin dark paint

2. Using burnt umber acrylic and, if required, a slow drying glaze medium, re-draw the image with a small filbert brush, adding washes of burnt umber to show darker toned areas. When dry cover the whole painting in a wash of burnt umber acrylic leaving the line work and tone washes showing through

3. Paint in the lighter areas of the picture building up to the highlights using titanium white acrylic and glaze medium if required

4. Once dry, glaze in yellow ochre oil paint all over the picture then add cadmium red or alizarin crimson ‘dry’ paint and work in to produce skin tones. Add paynes grey / burnt umber to strengthen darker areas then let dry

5. Continue adding colour oil paint as detailed previously