A portrait

[jmckelvin]

I've been working on this portrait for awhile. This is my first painting after a few year hiatus and my first painting with wm oils. I'm pretty happy with it so far, there is a bunch that I feel I need to fix. Especially with the darker shades. I really need to bring some darks in but I'm just can't seem to find the right color. I'll eventually find the right mixture and get comfortable with it. At least I've finally figured out skin tone (it may not be perfect but it is better than the skin tones I did in high school). Also I'm just struggling with that left nostril. And all progress up to this point is on my blog and the drawing I did from the same photo is here: link (http://jessicamckelvin.com/draw_pages/10.html). The drawing started out as a sketch for this but in my wait to print a reference photo I just kept working on it because I like it.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/12-Aug-2009/174354-paint7.JPG

[couturej]

Hi jmckelvin, Your portrait is looking great! Thank you for sharing your progress! Complementary colors to the local color work well for darker less saturated areas. For Black or near black, if you need really dark colors, you can mix Burnt Sienna with Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber with Ultramarine Blue or Alizarin Crimson with Phthalo green.

Here's a link to an explanation of complementary colors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complementary_color

Looking forward to your next update.

[jmckelvin]

I think Burnt Umber would probably help a lot, and of course it's the one I didn't buy. Also I'm a little nervous about using too much color again, that was the problem I had in high school. So I think I'm holding myself back from getting too dark. Though I have to say I'm using black in a painting for the first time and I think it's working out well. We we're allowed to have black in high school. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to experiment with mixing some new combination of complimentary colors. Mostly my shadows have been coming from purple or brown.

[karenlee]

Yes, good old skin tones: Since starting out on self-portraits in 1995, I am still not onto satisfactory skin tones/shadows! I think that is the most difficult area of painting and the challenge is never-ending. Painting the face is like painting water-- the subject's expression and the lighting are constantly changing. There are probably a million "right" ways to do it and the fun is exploring. I think this is a beautiful start!

[couturej]

I've used ivory black as well and paynes gray in shadows but I find they can be difficult to control. A little goes a long way. For the Mona Lisa on my Blog I used ivory black for all the shadowed areas and darker areas.

I think you're rite regarding using too many colors. I just started with just using the primary colors and I'm learning very quickly how to mix what I need when I need it. For example Burnt Umber is a desaturated orange (Brown). The way you can acheive this color with just the primaries is mix your red and yellow until you have orange and then keep adding small amounts of blue until you get the brown you want.

[jmckelvin]

That's great. I like the idea of mixing my own burnt umber rather than buying another tube of paint. Mostly because of cost and shipping time :)

Karenlee, thank you for encouragement. I'm beginning to agree that maybe there is not necessarily a wrong way to do it. I was striving for a more controlled style but I'm really liking the style that I seem to have now.

[Stoy Jones]

I have used viridian, ultramarine blue, and either burnt sienna or umber for my blacks and would adjust the mixture with more blue, brown, or green depending on the need. Sometimes black hair will have a blue or brown cast in strong light. The mix would be black, but could have that small variation in it to keep it from looking dull, but not look like "colored" hair either.

I think (and I might be wrong as I'm not terribly good at portraits) if you work on the shadow that extends down from the eye to the nose a little more, that should make the nostril "look" as it should. It looks great to me in your drawing and it seems to match the shape in your painting, just model the bridge of the nose a little more and it should appear at the angle it is in. Just a thought. I really like the skin colors you are getting.

Stoy

[karenlee]

This is a chart of skin tones Gunzorro posted in oil painting a while back. Isn't it cool? He used paints by Old Holland, Blockx, Mussini, and Vasari. They aren't water miscible oils, but the chart got me thinking about some new color mixtures to try out. For example, permanent orange, viridian, and white?!!!

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/13-Aug-2009/45183-Gunzorro_skin_tone_chart.jpg

Note: I liked best the colors mixed using genuine vermilion. Unfortunately only two makers I know of, Robert Doak and Michael Harding, sell this stuff. The other mfrs have pigment substitutes for mercuric sulphide, which is kinda toxic.

[couturej]

Karen, I'm not sure how this information would translate to the WMO that jmckelvin is using, Holbein Duo Aquas. All of the manufacturer names and brands that you're mentioning are conventional oils not WMO in case anyone is wondering. I'm confused???

[karenlee]

I'm really talking color, or hue, here. Hue is provided by the pigment, the dry colored stuff that the paint manufacturer mixes into the paint medium to give it color. Any given pigment can be used either in conventional oils or in water-miscible oils. It is only the non-pigment ingredients that differ between the two types of paint.
Viridian green (pigment green 20) is the same pigment in conventional or water miscible oils.
The pigments for blue, green, red, black and earth colors are pretty similar across different paint lines of WMO and conventional oils.
Permanent orange (pigment orange 73) would be the same color in water-miscible oils or conventional oils. Nowadays, in the color families of oranges and yellows, there are a lot of extra color cousins cooked up by modern manufacturing: modern pigments offer a great variety of orange and yellow pigments-- too many to name here. So orange/yellow is a case where different paint lines may not have the same pigments in their formulations (besides the standard cadmium orange and yellow.) In Holbein, the closest pigment to permanent orange would be imidazolone orange.
I hope this clarifies how discussions of color/hue really can cross the border from conventional oil to WMO. The subject of pigments is very interesting to me. I hope I have not confused you further!

[couturej]

Thanks Karen. I've always used pigment codes as a loose indicator for color matching but it's not exact and then you have your hues which even confuses things further. I think this is one that I would like to delve into further in the Lets talk about color thread. As soon as I have some time.

jmckelvin, just one more thing a good color wheel for me was important after a while you won't need it anymore as you'll be able to visualize what is happening with color without it. What colors did you use for you skin tones? They're great!:)

[jmckelvin]

The one color on the bottom of that chart, if I'm reading it right is a mix of viridian and alizarin crimson looks just like the one color I mixed up last night for a shadow. Looking at the paint tubes I think I used viridian and alizarin crimson in at least part to make it. I think I may have added a little of one of the blues.

My base skin tone, is burnt sienna, lemon yellow, and cadmium yellow. I do add in a little alizarin crimson or cadmium red for more of a pink skin color.

I got the list of colors for my palette from an Artist's Magazine article on an artist who's style I like. I copied down the palette list and then added a few colors I remember from high school that I liked. Then I adjusted it based on what was available through Holbien. The only thing I feel like I'm lacking is a darker brown, but now I'm thinking I could probably get the same effect with mixing colors. I don't have a good bit of colors on that chart but I think I'm doing alright with what I have. :)

[jmckelvin]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Aug-2009/174354-paint8.JPG
I've made a bit of progress on the painting. I think the right highlight is a bit off. I'll just fix that a little tomorrow. Other than that I thinkit's looking better, though now I also think the right nostril is off, but now the left one looks right. I'll just have to work on that side of the face a little more. I'm pretty happy with my progress and I like the left side of the upper lip. Just some more fixes tomorrow.

[couturej]

:wave: Your portrait is looking great! Nostrils.... wouldn't it be nice if people didn't have them.:lol: Eyes and nostrils are always the two areas that give me the most grief in a portrait.

[jmckelvin]

I agree the eyes are hard too, but at least I think they are fun. Oh but if only you were right and the nostrils were just not there, of course then it would probably look odd...lol.

Thank you for the support and encouragement :)

[jmckelvin]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Aug-2009/174354-paint9.JPG
This whole painting is just nerve wracking to me now. I worry so much about everything that I add to it. Before I was completely happy with the right side of the face, now I'm happy with the left side and I think the right needs work, also I think I'm a little off on the placement of the lips. I need to work on the area around the right nostril but I'm really starting to like the shadows on the left side. I started trying to lay in a bit of the hair and I'm worried I might need an even smaller brush. Right now I'm working with two brushes, 1/8" flat and #4 round. I've mostly been using the 1/8" flat brush recently. Also I think the eyebrow is too dark but I want to come back in with some lighter colors when that layer dries. I've been working in thin layers that have been dry or just about dry. The heat in the room I store it in might also help that drying time. Tomorrow I'll try to work on the nose and the right side of the face more, and maybe get some more work done on the lips. I might be heading into the fingers or more of the hair in the next few days.

[couturej]

Hi jmckelvin! Your painting is looking great! Just a suggestion don't try to analyze everything rite now concentrate on getting everything filled in and then do your tweaking. I find it much easier to pinpoint what isn't working after the canvas is covered. :)

[jeffreywp]

I think it's essential that you cover this canvas before questioning any of your painting decisions, Jessica. Once you fill it in then you'll have a clear sense of value relationships. Presently, you truly can't say what has been correctly rendered because the individual components don't stand alone; they contribute to the whole.

In the end, you may find when you have covered the remaining sections of the canvas you need to rework areas you thought were complete.

Fear not, though because you'll get there, Jessica!

[jmckelvin]

I think you're right I really should wait until I get more filled in and worry about it more then. I felt like the right side of the face was perfect and then I added in the left and now it doesn't look quite right, so I've been going back into that. Still the contour of the face on that side doesn't look quite right. I like that I keep doing that and I feel comfortable with going back over things now. It's so good not have a real deadline with this, I can take my time and go over things as much as I want. I experimented with the background a little. I'm not sure if I'm going to do the abstract green or just put in the fence and such from the reference photo. If I end up hating the green it can easily turn into fence and trees, when I just paint over it. I didn't get a lot of work done tonight because I after I used up the last of my blues and greens on the background I had to clean off half my palette. I still have some usable reds, orange and flesh tone. Though it's drying out quickly. I'm going to have to get some of the clove oil someone suggested in another thread.

Also once I stop looking for things to be finished right now I'm happy with it. It's definitely heading in the right direction just not there yet, which is fine.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Aug-2009/174354-paint10.JPG

[couturej]

I agree definitely heading in the right direction! :)

[ExpressiveAngie]

I agree the eyes are hard too, but at least I think they are fun. Oh but if only you were right and the nostrils were just not there, of course then it would probably look odd...lol.

Thank you for the support and encouragement :)
nostrils! the hardest thing on earth to paint! i think this is looking marvelous and your patience is commendable!

[jmckelvin]

Thank you again for the encouragement :)

I did a little work today. I really had resigned myself to not working for awhile, but I decided to try painting while my daughter is awake. It seems to have worked out well. She did a little painting of her own, then moved on to a game. She really didn't mind that I was painting and didn't try to get into any of it. So I think I'll try to work during the day more often. Anyway I didn't get much done. I didn't even bother with the nose. I worked on the lips a bit, but again I have to wait for them to dry. They're a bit too purple and need to be more brown/pink, but I just kept getting more purple when I tried to add more pink while it was wet. I added a bit more to the hair though it needs a lot of work I'm happy with where it is going.
**I feel super silly for getting my shadow in the shot, but I usually don't work this time of day on the floor. I was also in a hurry when I was cleaning up and only took one photo.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/28-Aug-2009/174354-paint11.JPG

[couturej]

jmckelvin, looking fantastic, good to hear you're able to work while your daughter is awake... tough to do. You'll have to share some of your daughters work as well. :)

[jmckelvin]

Thank you again for the encouragement. I did a bit of painting last night, and I plan to work again tonight if I'm not forced to wash my palette. I don't think I'll get the chance to paint during the day until tomorrow, today is my big cleaning day. I tried the clove oil but I really wasn't happy with it. I put it in Friday and last night all of my paint had a thick skin, even the alizarin crimson (that one usually is the last to get a skin). Also the smell of that stuff is horrible so I won't be using it anymore. I'm going to try a wet paper towel or sponge, like I did with acrylics in school. I'm not sure if that will work out at all but it's worth a try I suppose.
Also I experimented with some other background colors. I'm just not sure the detailed background with the fence and tree will look right but I just don't think that the bright green looks right either. I think I really like the darker blues and I think they'd look good, they both have green in them too. I just think the darker cooler colors look better.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/03-Sep-2009/174354-paint12.JPG

[Dana Design]

JMK, The mouth seems to be veering toward our left. See how close the end of her mouth is to our right side of her face? Perhaps the nose is too far to our left as well.

It's an adorable picture and the skin tones are turning out nicely.

[jmckelvin]

JMK, The mouth seems to be veering toward our left. See how close the end of her mouth is to our right side of her face? Perhaps the nose is too far to our left as well.

It's an adorable picture and the skin tones are turning out nicely.

Thanks I have been having trouble with the nose and there just seems to be too much lip on the left side. I think I might bring the finger up a bit more and that may help. The line of the upper lip has been bothering me too. Thanks for the feedback, it has helped me focus a bit on what really stands out as wrong :)

[Dana Design]

Actually, you need to move the mouth and nose over to the right. I don't think raising the finger will help. The eyes, nose and mouth should be in alignment. If you take a ruler and hold it down from the middle of her eyes to the mouth in your ref, you'll see that her features are at an angle. Whereas, yours in the painting are coming straight down from top to bottom.

Hope this helps!

[jmckelvin]

I think I'll have to move the finger over too, the knuckle already looks to far left and the line of the mouth needs to be extended more to the right, and then I can just have everything else follow suit. The nose still needs a good bit of work, so I'll work on moving that as well.

[Dana Design]

Good! Keep us posted!

[judyfilarecki]

Hi Jessica, I haven't had a chance tot look at this for a while, but I have to say, the expression in the eyes are outstanding. You have captured them perfectly. I agree about the nose and mouth needing to be moved right. It is too bad you can't just copy and paste like you can with a computer. The mouth has good form and if over a little would be great...Judy

[couturej]

Jessica. I love the texture you're getting in the hair. Great advice from Judy and Dana! :)

[jmckelvin]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/05-Sep-2009/174354-paint13.JPG
Please keep in mind that I haven't had the chance to get around to addressing everything that needs to be done but I am working toward it :)
I'm really happy with the progress I did last night and I really enjoyed painting. I would have done more but I made the mistake of setting my easel too high. I didn't realize until my neck started to hurt. Also I think I need a smaller brush. My smallest brush was fine when I first got it but now it's started to fray and really don't give me the fine detail lines I want. I'm not sure if it's the quality or the brush or the way I treat it but it's frayed in about a month's time. I'll just get a new smaller brush this week. Some of the shadows around the lips and the lips themselves are still giving me trouble. I'll just have to work on it. I'm in the process of enlarging the eyes. They looked a bit far apart but also a bit small for the whole face, I've started the right eye but I just need to clean it up a bit with a smaller brush. I'll get to the left eye when I get that smaller brush as well. After I get the left eye fixed I'll be able to fine tune the placement of the nose as well.
Also again, thank you to everyone for the advice and encouragement.:)

[couturej]

You certainly have a lot of patience. Looking good! Just one tip regarding green that you mentioned in your previous post. If you have black... black and yellow make some very natural looking greens. :)

[jmckelvin]

I'm actually using black for the first time in this painting (we weren't allowed to have it in high school). So I'll have to try out that mixture.

[jmckelvin]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/06-Sep-2009/174354-paint14.JPG
I'm not feeling so well so I'll keep this short. I did a little work this morning too. I got the background filled in, but I'm not sure if it's too dark and I think the texture might be a bit too much. Also I forgot to try out that black and yellow mixture and I might have to try that.

[couturej]

Jessica, sorry to hear your not feeling well. Hope you feel better soon. The background looks like a great start. :)

[jmckelvin]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/08-Sep-2009/174354-paint15.JPG
This really is not the amount of progress that I was hoping to get done but I am happy with what I got done. I still need to make some adjustment to that line on the left side cheek because I've had to move it and it's looking a bit awkward. I may have to look at the line on the right as well. I noticed that the knuckle was too high, which was throwing off the line of the cheek which was throwing off the ear. The ear is entirely too high. I just need to move it down a little. I have to wait for everything to dry so I can go back over it or I would have done more tonight. Hopefully everything will be dry tomorrow and I can fix that cheek, the ear and the hand. If I can fix all that and get more done on the hand I'll feel good about everything and if I can start the shirt and arms before the week ends even better. We'll see what happens.

[couturej]

Hi Jessica! Looking forward to your next update. Still watching. This is really interesting. I always love seeing the process. :)

[jmckelvin]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/10-Sep-2009/174354-paint16.JPG
I was painting the background color on to the bottom of the canvas so I had to take the photo of the painting sitting upside down on the easel. I keep running into a wall with this painting because I have to keep waiting for layers of paint to dry, and I think they stopped drying as quickly as before because the room I store it in has been cooler because of the weather. I tried doing a little tonight in the hand but nothing was dry from last night, so I just started getting more of that awful mud color. I'm going to have to wait a few days now, so the bottom can dry. I've considered starting another painting or even a drawing but I really don't like working on two pieces at once. I usually get focused on one and neglect the other. Also I just really want to finish this piece.

[jmckelvin]

Everything has finally dried and I was able to work tonight. I'll be working again tomorrow unless something comes up.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/16-Sep-2009/174354-paint17.JPG
I've finally been able to get back into the painting again. I'm not sure about the size of the hand already. The tips of the fingers are right, I've measured that about 16 times. The wrist might just be over too far. The hair needs some more work but I'm happy with this layer for the most part.

[couturej]

Jessica, looking good! I love the highlights you added to the hair and the hand looks like it's coming along nicely. :)

[marie_d]

Jessica....I don't know anything about portrait painting, but this is looking good. Keep up the good work:thumbsup:

[karenlee]

This keeps getting better and better!
Thank you for keeping us posted.
- Karen

[jmckelvin]

I just brought this back out tonight after a long break and the first thing I've noticed is some of the texture from the paint it self is bothering me a bit in the hand. Has anyone sanded a painting before, and do you recommend it? Most of the painting is pretty smooth and I'm just worried about those bits of paint sticking up getting in the way of the layers I'm going to put over it. Right now I'm taking a bit of snack break, but I'll probably post today or tomorrow with the progress I've made.

[mawdwyn]

Hi Jessica
Just checked in to see how your portrait is coming along - very nice! I have sanded paintings. It works really well to get rid of a too-thick area. Do it outside if possible, and keep your nose, mouth and eyes covered (painter's mask and goggles).

Callie

[jmckelvin]

Thanks Callie, it's good to know that I can sand it down if I need to but I will invest in the mask and goggles first :)

I spent a little bit of time on this and I really didn't make huge progress, but I did spend a lot of time scrapping dry paint off my palette again. I'm really going to push my self to finish this soon. I just got a great reference photo that I want to work with, and I don't want to start anything new before I get done with this one. I still have some tweaking to do in the hand but mostly I just have to fill in more and of course I need more work in the hair. I added some darks to the hair. Also the photo is a bit blurry this time I'll try to take a clearer one next time.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/05-Oct-2009/174354-paint18.JPG

[couturej]

Jessica the hand is looking good! I hope you enjoyed your break. :)

[jmckelvin]

Thanks Janet, the hands been worrying me and it's good hear that it looks good so far :)
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/07-Oct-2009/174354-paint19.JPG
I still don't think it's much progress, but I did work a little on a few things. I got a little done of the hand, and did a little in the hair. I even worked on the shirt some. I also pushed my self to work past my initial, "I'm getting frustrated, I'll put this away" thoughts. I hope to one day soon sit down and knock out a good bit of progress. I'm tired right now or I'm sure I'd be able to find more things to say about this.

[couturej]

Your doing great! I can understand the "getting frustrated" thing. We've all been their I just finished a portrait that I feel the same way about. Oh well back to the drawing board. :)

[karenlee]

Nice going! Just one thiing to correct ASAP: The girl's left hand is off a bit. Check the vertical between her left cheek and the inside & outside breaks of her wrist, and the vertical between her farthest-out fingertip and her right ear. You will need to redraw the hand, maybe a smidge smaller. This should be no problems as you have it beautifully drawn.
As an aside, I wonder if there is some distortion of the hand size in the photo--it looks large. Is there an chance she could assume the pose so you can check the proportions in real life?

[jmckelvin]

Thanks Karen, for all the tips on the hand. I've definitely been struggling with it. I'm happy you said it looks too big because that really confirmed my concerns. That hand as had me ready to give up on the whole thing but now I think I might be able to fix it. Thank you so much for your help. The soonest I'll be seeing her is later this month on Halloween, so maybe I can get her to pose for me then.

I did work a little last night, but I still have a long way to go with the hand.
Looking at the photo from last night I definitely see what you mean, I need to shorten that first finger, it's far too long. The wrist is also out of place and I see what you mean now. I've been staring at this going "there's something wrong but I don't know what" now I can see it. Maybe I won't get so frustrated tonight when I work on it again.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/09-Oct-2009/174354-paint20.JPG
Thanks again :)