Author: L._Diane_Johnson, Contributing Editor
Howdy Pardners, I've just completed, "The Cowboy", a little portrait for a client whose grandchild was so proud to be a "cowboy" with his bandana wrapped about his neck. So I took this opportunity to take pictures while painting to post this little demo for you. This was not painted from life but from a photo printed out on an inkjet printer...tough enough from photos but when it's from a digitized inkjet printer the colors are still further from the truth. The original shot (as you can see from the original had other issues to deal with as well. |
For instance, a flash was used right in front of the subject which flattened and washed out the face, and any hope of good shadows. So in this case, I requested other photos to supplement for eye color, skin tones and the like in the hopes of creating a worthwhile painting. Here is the original photo at left. |
Working in soft pastel on Canson was my choice in this case as I wanted the child to have some texture but not as much as for more rugged portrait treatments. I also knew I was not going to paint the background, so the gray I chose was one which would work for a little boy with warm skin tones harmoniously. I started with a simple, light sketch of the basic facial structure, staying very loose at first. Knowing the scarf was important to the client I had to be sure it would fit in the portrait. |
Next, I indicated where the eyes would be, again loosely since I wanted the flexibility for change; then began indicating some skin tones. |
Now I really began painting in earnest -- painting more solidly to block-in large areas after working the face/head. Since the face and eyes in particular are where I want the viewer to go, that's where I concentrated first. But then I needed to put in the red scarf to better relate it to the face. Red is a very intense, overwhelming color. So I knew I had to control it early on. Note as well, that I added a bit more neck. I did not want him to look like his head was attached to the scarf so opened that area up a bit. |
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