Family Portrait using Flemish-style glazing - 16" x 20" WIP

chonbi · #1 03-09-2012, 07:02 PM

Hi everyone,
This is my very first WIP so I hope you guys like it! I would really appreciate any input, I really respect the artists in this community and I hope you guys can help me out! I am painting a portrait of my sisters and me when we were much younger using a Flemish-influenced method. You can see the grisaille nearly finished here:

The grisaille has dried and I've begun to apply the preliminary colour glazes. I started to build up the shadows by using blues and greens for the darker shadow areas, which I hope will react with the reds and pinks that will be glazed later. I'm using a mixture of 1/3 each of D-Limonene, walnut alkyd medium and linseed oil for the glaze. Here is the result after finishing the grisaille and the first glaze:

As you can see, the clothing is not quite finished because I expected a little bit of bleeding from the initial glazes onto the white of the shirts, which I will repaint later. Right now I just want to get the skin tones correct.

Any input at this stage would be greatly appreciated. I'm just waiting for this layer to dry, then I can begin to paint the fleshy tones of the skin. I understand that we currently look like a family of undead, but this is to (hopefully) create convincing shadows.

Thanks!

Jared Scratch

catchafairy · #2 03-09-2012, 08:24 PM

Love your style. This is coming along quite nicely. I'm eager to see your updates.

Eduardo Flores · #3 03-10-2012, 08:37 AM

Good starting!
During the next steps, remember to maintain the edges softer, not so defined as in this first approach.

Eduardo

crafor · #4 03-10-2012, 12:21 PM

You are talented! That's a wonderful way to use the Flemish method, and I too will follow. I have a few photos I've been considering doing that way, and now with this good example, I might. I hope you post many--or all--of your steps along the way.
Crafor

chonbi · #5 03-11-2012, 11:42 AM

Hey guys,

I've been working on this, and after a couple sessions I thought I would post some of my progress. It's amazing how much life a little colour can bring to a painting:

You might notice that I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to detail, the focal points in the face still needs a lot of attention, but for the first colour layer I usually just start blocking in the major colour areas so I can see how they work together, and then start refining the eyes and mouth as I get into the second and third colour layers. I hope this will at least show the beginning colour build-up. I'm trying to keep the values as accurate as possible but will make small corrections as I go.

Tell me what you think? Any suggestions how I could better go about this?

Jared

oilsnjade · #6 03-12-2012, 03:15 PM

I hesitate to offer anything but praise for such a lovely work. One question...will you be downsizing the ear on the middle child before you're finished? Fascinating WIP! Thank you for sharing!

kburnett86 · #7 03-12-2012, 04:48 PM

Good job with the glazing! It's hard to say this without seeing the reference photo, but it seems to me that their faces are a bit "off". Could you possibly post the ref photo?

chonbi · #8 03-12-2012, 08:31 PM

Hey guys,

Thanks for the suggestion to post the reference photo, I'm sorry I didn't think to do that in the first place! Here is a rather poor quality scan of my reference photo, I apologize that it's smeared with paint at this point but should give you the idea.

Thanks!
Jared

EDIT: I just viewed this post, and after seeing my reference photo displayed on my computer screen, the inconsistencies are so much more obvious! There is something rather "off" about the faces, and I can see right away that the facial features are a little too small (with the exception of the ear). I did not transfer an accurate drawing to the canvas ground before painting, it was all sketched by eye in the underpainting. I wish I had waited to make the necessary corrections within the dead layer but it's a bit late now... I will just have to make the corrections as I go.

chonbi · #9 03-13-2012, 09:13 PM

Hello again,

Taking some time to compare in photoshop, it's a lot easier to see what needs to be corrected. I've arranged the two images to overlay with some transparency:

You can see pretty clearly that the mouths can all be larger, as well as some enlargement to the eyes. The ear, surprisingly enough, is actually a tad small... I had very large ears as a kid which earned me the nickname "Dumbo" so I don't mind if they appear big

Red 9 · #10 03-13-2012, 11:02 PM

You know the great thing though is that you actually recognize your mistakes and you will learn from them! And I think the ear looks bigger in your painting cause the hair needs to be wider. Just keep going and finish it...learn as much as you can for the next one

Alan P. in OC · #11 03-14-2012, 02:51 AM

Good job so far, I'm glad you compared the pix in Photoshop, I was going to mention some of the inconsistencies (before I read the whole post

).

chonbi · #12 03-16-2012, 07:32 PM

Hello all,

So I backtracked and revisited the dead layer! Oh I hate all that lost work and time, but it had to be done. Better to correct these things now than to have them haunting me in the future. I want to take enough time to get this layer accurate enough to be able to stand alone as a monochromatic painting... THEN I will know it is ready for colour. Here's where I'm at right now:

As you can see, it's already much more accurate to the reference photo. This layer isn't quite done, I will have to do another go (possibly two) before I can move on. I will do a little more comparison using photoshop before I'm completely satisfied with the final grisaille. I WILL get this right! I would appreciate any feedback and criticism!

Thanks,
Jared

kburnett86 · #13 03-16-2012, 08:42 PM

That looks very good! Much more accurate. That does suck that you lost time on this, but it will be very worth it!

ajparke · #14 03-19-2012, 05:20 PM

Hi you're doing a great job, and it's a technique that i'm familiarising myself with at the minute. I made a grisaille some months back for a portrait, but got some of the values incorrect, then struggled badly trying to correct this mistake in the colour layer.

So that's why I made every possible effort in my next portrait (Portrait of Sophie), to get the dead layer nailed from the off, as for me there is no going back. If you get a chance you can see my fully fleshed out dead layer, in fact, verdaccio layer, at my website. Good luck and look forward to seeing the finished article.

Anthony Parke
http://www.anthonyparke.com/

chonbi · #15 03-20-2012, 04:07 PM

Hello everyone,

Checking in with an update! I've nearly finished my second attempt at the grisaille. Boy am I happy I revisited this stage! I'm very excited because I don't think I've ever managed a likeness as accurate as this! There is still a lot of work to be done, details in the eyes, fleshing out the skin more, softening edges and so on, but I'm always looking for your suggestions!

Once again, here is the reference photo (desaturated for better comparison):

And here is my current progress on the grisaille:

Please share your thoughts, especially if anything jumps out at you. I truly appreciate all your comments so far!!!

Thanks,
Jared S.

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