Jon WIP

[bruce johnson]

Hi all .... since I did my last pastel pastel of my son Ronnie.. We Won Dad. .. a number of WCer's have PMed me to do another so.. here we go... this is Jon, the son of my friend Arleen.

As usual I've started with a line drawing... I try to get the line drawing as accurate as I can before I start adding colour.. If you don't get a good likeness at the drawing stage you wont improve the likeness by adding colour.

I always start top left hand corner and work my way down and across the page.. This keeps the paper relatively clean..

I can see that there is a lot of warm and cool yellows in this pic, so I select my palette accordingly... I use Lemon yellow (cool), raw sienna, burnt sienna, Indian yellow (almost orange) and I will also use Indian Red sparingly. To get the shine in the hair I will use warm and cool greens,... for the darks I use a combo of Ultramarine blue and pthalo green. If I really need to go dark I will substitute the Ultramarine with Prussian blue, but be careful with this colour as it is very intense...

I start modelling the hair by studying the ref pic very closely... I look for all the colour changes I can see... These colour changes are very important as it is what gives the painting life...
I lay these colours side by side, as I see them in the ref, and then gently blend them together with a stump. I actually use rubber colour shapers, rather than paper stumps coz they last longer and I get a better feel for the amount of pastel I'm laying down..
With the hair obviously it is important to blend in the direction of the hair strands. Try to identify locks of hair and work on each lock separately... look for colour temperature changes and depth of value.. Then compare these locks to adjacent locks.. :thumbsup:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/12-Nov-2006/17761-JonE1.jpg http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/12-Nov-2006/17761-Ronnie_with_water_133.jpg http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/12-Nov-2006/17761-Ronnie_with_water_135.jpg

[bruce johnson]

Update number 2

I've continued wiith the hair gradually working my way across the paper , building value and modelling the locks.. at all times I'm studying the colour changes, identifying cool or warm. I look into the shadows to see what hues are there. Shadows are never just one colour, there is life in the darkness.,.. I believe this is what takes an artist from one level onto the next..

As I move down to the face I try to keep using the same colours as I have for the hair, this keeps the hair attached to the face and it looks like it belongs. With this ref it has been quite simple to do, however if Jon had black hair it would be more difficult to use the same colours, but I would try and use highlight colours in the face that I used on the hair.. If you understand what I mean...

The same goes for the lips, continue to use the same hues but just deepen them with a little complementary colour, If I used too much red or pink it would look like Jon was wearing lipstick..

Another tip is that if when you put a colour down on the paper it instantly looks out of place try a different temperature of the same colour, this usually wroks, Also use complementary
colours to deepen the value of primaries..

The painting looks a bit on the yellow side cos I used a flash to give more light.. IRL the colours a closer to the actual ref...

Hope you're enjoying it so far.. :wave:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/12-Nov-2006/17761-Ronnie_with_water_137.jpg http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/12-Nov-2006/17761-Ronnie_with_water_138.jpg http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/12-Nov-2006/17761-Ronnie_with_water_139.jpg

[Kathryn Wilson]

Thanks for doing this WIP for us Bruce - we have so few pastel folks doing portraits, that it refreshing to see such a detailed WIP happening. Your explanations of what you are doing are excellent and I am learning lots about color and color transitions just watching you paint.

Keep up the good work and I'll be watching!

[bruce johnson]

Thanks Kat... I enjoy doing WIP's for you guys cos you're all so appreciative... :wave: :clap: :thumbsup:

Bruce

[DebbieGS]

Thank you for this WIP and for explaining in such great detail! I am new to pastels, so it is wonderful to see all the step by steps.

Debbie

[bruce johnson]

Hi Debbie., welcome to pastels , I'm new at this medium also so we're going to have fun... its a great way to paint... Thanks for stopping by....:wave: :thumbsup:

[Piper Ballou]

Bruce, Thanks so much for showing us and giving such detail to the instructions...helps us non-portrait people really understand.
piper

[bruce johnson]

Thanks for stopping by Piper, I marvel at how you paint animals:clap: :thumbsup:

[Piper Ballou]

thanks, I just ordered a small set of portrait pastels and I may have to give them a try as I watch your WIP
piper

[bruce johnson]

Way to go Piper, just make sure you have cool and warm hues of each colour.

I'll be watching :lol:

[dbjs]

I love your way of painting hair!!

[bruce johnson]

Quick update before bed, I've continued modelling the face still using the same palette... I didn't use a flash this time which shows the colours a little closer to IRL. the paper is actually white so you can see how yellow the pic has come out... http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/13-Nov-2006/17761-Ronnie_with_water_142.jpg

[Mary Brigid]

This is really interesting to watch Bruce. Fabulous work.
Mary Brigid

[LEIGH RUST]

Wow Bruce! This is simply stunning. Your explanation of your working methods is just brilliant mate! Thanks for sharing.

[DebbieGS]

Thanks Bruce for the warm welcome! Your update looks really good! I just bought a small set of the Unison portrait pastels this weekend. I've only drawn a couple of portraits with the Derwent drawing pencils using (3) of the sepia shades, so I'm a little nervous about trying colors, but watching your WIP is giving me confidence to try a pastel portrait!

Thanks,
Debbie

[maddy777]

Great! I love WIP's.
Ditto what Leigh Rust has said! :D
mads

[Netty]

Hello Bruce,
Thankyou for posting your WIP. It has been wonderful seeing the steps in progress. I am interested in the paper you are using, and whether you are using the pastel pencils for your fine lines, or just the pastels with the colour shapers?
I love the colour shapers to help get an even line of consistency, especially around the eyes.
Your hair is beautifully done, I love the way you have carefully put each lock in with the sun shinning on the top, which really looks very realistic!
Looking forwards to more.
Thanks, Netty

[CindyW]

Bruce, this is great! The hair is gorgeous as well as the lighting.
Cindy

[HarvestMoon]

This will be a great one!!!
Linda

[bruce johnson]

Tak dbjs, I love the challenge of painting complicated hair, and this is probably as tough as any I've painted.. :wave: Incidentally my wife is Danish , coming from near Vordingborg, my morfar came from Aarhus... :thumbsup:

Hi Mary Thanks for stopping by.. long way to go yet so I hope you'll still be here when I'm done :lol:

Thanks Leigh, I don't think its up to your standard yet but maybe .... one day ...cheers mate.. :thumbsup:

Oh dear you're in trouble now Debbie the Pastel Ogre has got you and he doesn't let go... you'll be hooked for ever :lol: :lol: Bet you own a hundred pastels by Xmas.

Thanks Mads.. Always nice to see you.. ;)

Hi Netty, I use the shapers like a brush.. I will rub the pastel stick on a piece of colourfix paper and build up a little pile of pastel, then pick some up with a very fine pointed shaper and gently lay it into the painting. I can get very fine lines this way. I do have conte pencils but I don't use them for laying down colour as they normally are not the right hue for what I'm looking for.. sometimes I will use the pencils to blend the soft pastel into tight corners. They work better than stumps this way, as they dont take the pastel off the paper like a stump does..
I am using Arches CP paper here, its only my 4th pastel painting and I'm trying to learn as much about sizing and different papers as poss. I've tried colourfix but didn't like the mess it made.. I get very little dust from this paper.. it doesn't take as much pastel as other pastel papers, but if you spray with fixative as you go its not too bad..
The way I paint hair is quite time consuming but once you get the hang of it you can actually paint quite quickly... the time consuming part is trying to decide which colours are in the ref.. :wave: :wave:


Hi Cindy and Linda, great to see you guys.. :wave: :wave:

[bruce johnson]

Well I've touched up the colours on the face and have about finished the ear, face and neck, I will now move onto the shirt.. The darkish shadow under his left cheek has reflected light off his shirt, this should tone down once I paint the purple shirt.. I also played with the white balance on my camera and this colour is very close to the painting IRL. Does it look better? I think it shows more detail... funny what you can find out when you read the instructions.:lol: :lol: My wife says its a MAN thing:evil:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Nov-2006/17761-Ronnie_with_water_144.jpg

[Mary Brigid]

I am still here watching Bruce. And learning. Thanks for taking the trouble to do all this. Will be back

[bruce johnson]

Hi Mary.. thanks for the encouragement... Hope to do some more tonight...

[karenelkan]

Oh wonderful!! I love watching your WIP! Your portraits are so lovely.

[bruce johnson]

Hi Karen :wave: thank you for stopping by... I particularly like your Mountain Man too...:clap: :thumbsup:

Cheers Bruce

[bruce johnson]

Well I finally get to use some different colours. I've brought the background to the bottom of the face, and I'm using pthalo blue, pthalo green, blue violet, and a touch of olive green. I'll probably drop a little cool yellow in somewhere when I've completed the majority of the portrait. I've chosen cool colours cos the face is warm and the cool BG will give the portrait more punch.. IMO anyway,...

I always lay my BG in diagonally , this gives the a painting sense of movement, and I lay it in the opposite direction to the pose of the portrait.

Another thing I do is I brush a little of the background colour into the hair. this ties the head to the background and gives a more 3D effect.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Nov-2006/17761-Ronnie_with_water_149.jpg

[cal studio]

Bruce, You are a master!!!! I am very much enjoying this process. Thank you!
Cathleen

[Paula Ford]

Wow Bruce! This looks great so far!!

Paula

[Mary Brigid]

Bruce so much great painting..... so much great information..... You are making me itch to do a portrait. would have to do someone i don't know first as the result could be very insulting........:eek:
Will be back in here again Bruce. Thanks for sharing. :wave:

[bruce johnson]

Thank you Cathleen, you're very kind... I'm not in the league of great pastellists like Ponting but thats were I hope to arrive someday... a Master , gee maybe after they bury me :lol: :lol:

Thank you Paula, your words of encouragement are always inspiring:thumbsup:

Hi Mary the easiest answer to that is start with a self portrait... :evil: :lol:

[Netty]

Thanks again Bruce for the update with your WIP.
I am really appreciating the extra little tips you are giving, especially the info on the BG. I always have a struggle with my backgrounds on portraits. Usually I just leave it as the colour of the paper, but I am doing a portrait now where i am going out of my box and attempting to do the BG....
I will post it when I am done...

Your portrait is just wonderful, love the slight tinge of blue in the hair , looks great!!!!
well what do you expect from a fellow Aussie!!!! lol.....
Thanks, Netty ...

[bruce johnson]

Hey Netty thanks for your nice comments.... tell you the truth BG's terrify me as well...The portraits the easy bit, but what do we do with the large expanse left behind... I try to use some of the dominant portrait colours in my backgrounds as well as opposite temp colours to give impact... I'm not quite happy with this BG as it is, I may warm it up a bit... good thing about pastel on Arches paper is its easy to brush off and start again.. I spray with fixative once i've got the look I want.. I can always paint over the fixative if I want to adjust something. My paintings seem to evolve as I go,

Psst.... I'm actually a kiwi now living in Aussie :lol:

[Alachua Artist]

this is beyond grand, it's shocking.

I so appreciate this WIP - it's always helpful and, in this case, truly amazing to see the work come alive out of the paper.

Thank you.

[DAK723]

This is better than buying a $25 pastel book. Very interesting to watch it develop. Amazing how talented some people are!

Don

[Jo Castillo]

Bruce, I'm checking in late on this. It is a great portrait and just your 4th pastel painting. Wow. Thanks for the WIP, I'll check back in and see the finish.
Jo

[AnnieA]

Jon: I'm so impressed!

The skintones are just wonderful on this - the ref photo looked like it would be difficult to paint, with the unusual lighting across the face, but you made it look easy! Same with the hair.

Such a beautiful portrait! Thanks so much for the wonderfully detailed WIP. I've added it to my favorites, as there are so many helpful tips that I'll want to be able to check back, should I ever have the nerve to attempt a portrait again (I've tried a couple :eek:).

[bruce johnson]

Wow you folks are so appreciative... that's why I love doing WIP's for y'll. :thumbsup:
I must admit that I feel this is my best portrait so far, and I get tingles when I wake up in the morning and look at it in the morning sun... (Soppy I know:lol: )
Each new portrait I paint, I learn something and try to include it in the next ... I feel I'm getting better...
My two biggest assets is the time I spent drawing charcoal portraits as this taught me how to evaluate tonal values, and having Susan Harrison-Tustain (NZ artist) teach me colour theory... it was just a matter of combining the two..


Wendy you're very welcome:wave: Incidentally I have a daughter named Wendy. Lovely name.:wave:

Don, interesting you mention a book, I've had it suggested to me that I should gather up my watercolour and pastel WIP's and visit Staples (??) and get them made into a book. Unfortunately I live in Australia and I have no idea what Staples is... but the idea sounds interesting.. I do all my paintings as WIP's even if I don't post them. its a good way to keep track of how you arrived at an effect and also prevents you making the same old mistakes.. :wave:


Hi Jo thanks for stopping by, I am in NZ next week so I have to try and get it finished before Sunday. Fingers Crossed... Its not a commission so I'm not in a hurrry really... :wave:

[bruce johnson]

Hi Annie, I think we cross posted.. I'd love to see more pastellists post portrait WIP's... I'm flying by the seat of my pants here.. Do you think if we bullied Dianna Ponting she might do one for us... :evil: If you've seen the portrait Dianna painted of her granddaughter you'll understand what I mean.. breathtaking....
I chose this ref because of the extreme light and unruly hair.. I think when you've actually got strong contrasts and complex values in the ref it makes the painting easier to interpret as you have something to paint. :wave: :thumbsup:

[*Violet*]

wow ... i've been quietly watching in awe ... fabulous portrait in the making ... :thumbsup:

[valchina612]

Super-fantastic WIP Bruce. Just amazing. Thankyou so much for all of this wonderful information. You Rock!!!!!!!!!! :clap: :clap: :thumbsup:

Val. :wave:

[bruce johnson]

Hi Violet and Val thanks for stopping by and the nice comments . Here's a little update. The painting is a little dusty and I haven't sprayed it yet.. It will darken up a little when I spray it... I've made a change from the ref, Jon is holding a sword but I thought the composition looked to posed, I've inidicated that he has crossed his arms instead.. Don't know if this is an improvement or should I have gone with ref.. any thoughts http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/16-Nov-2006/17761-Ronnie_with_water_154.jpg

[Mary Brigid]

Hi Bruce. I like the way you have the arms indicated. The backround looks really good. As for me doing a self portrait? I might do but could never post it here........ would be a mean thing to do..... computers would crash :lol: :lol: :lol:

[bruce johnson]

:lol: :lol: :lol: Come on Mary it can't be that bad... :lol:

I've had a request to do a lesson so everyone can select their own portrait reference and I'll help them along the way... what do you think... would anyone be interested ... :wave: :thumbsup:

[Piper Ballou]

Stopped by for an update......Jon is spectacular....

I think I may be interested in the portrait lesson...what if you all had us paint from the same reference for the first portrait, that way you could have one that is in good light, etc....just an idea
piper

[Netty]

HEY!!! Great idea, I would be interested...... either on our own selection or we do the same portrait!!!!
Sounds wonderful Bruce!!

Netty.

[Kathryn Wilson]

Bruce, and Pastel gang, we could do this in the Project format. It really works well that way.

Bruce, if you are interested, let me know. We will walk you through the Project system and help you get it set up.

[bruce johnson]

Thanks Kat..I've sent you a PM

[bruce johnson]

Well I'm pretty much finished with this, if it was a commission I would spend more time finishing off the body, but it was designed as a WIP for hair and light..

Hope you all enjoyed it.. and I'll see all you pastellists in the Pastel Portrait Project starting soon... :thumbsup:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Nov-2006/17761-Ronnie_with_water_156.jpg

[Rose Baggs]

Beautiful portrait Bruce!!!

[Mary Brigid]

congratulations on your finnished work Bruce. And thanks for sharing. I enjoyed this very much
Mary Brigid

[bruce johnson]

Thak You Mary and Rose, i'm very pleased you enjoyed it.. :wave: :thumbsup:

[nana b]

Bruce, thanks for taking us along with you on this wonderful portrait wip. I can tell you are very excited about you work. I know how you feel, I wake up thinking about working on my art , go to bed thinking about it and even dream about it!

I would also love for you to work with us on a portrait project. I haven't tried a portrait in a long time. That is originally what I started out wanting to do more than anything else.

nana b

[bruce johnson]

Thanks nanab.. I see you've signed up for the portrait project.. I'm looking forward to it should be fun.:thumbsup:

[pequan]

I realize I got in here very late, but I am so happy I did... Bruce you are fantastic! I can't wait to do the pprtrait project you have set up.. thanks for doing this..
_________
Pequan/Linda
hichrista!

[bruce johnson]

You're very welcome. Pequan it should be fun.. :thumbsup:

[monroeartstudio]

Hello,

Just wanted to say great work and ask a quick question if you don't mind? When you do your line work in the beginnig stage is that in pencil (graphite) or do you use a brown or black pastel pencil? Your work on his hair is amazing by the way!!! :thumbsup:

Don

[bruce johnson]

Thanks Don... I normally use a B pencil, either graphite or lead.. :thumbsup: