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Painting Portraits from Photographs:1 Starting Points

February 23, 2021

Hilary
Pencil

Portrait painting is challenging because we are so familiar with faces that we can spot inaccuracies easily, and perfecting a likeness both of the physical features and the character of the model requires a lot of precise observation.  This does not mean that we need to paint every detail but does mean understanding of how the various forms of the head and shoulders present themselves.  A glance back to the portrait drawing Blog posts of May 5 Full Face, May 18 Profile and June 1 Three Quarter View will give you some useful reminders.  Choose the appropriate month of the Blog archive to find them.

No excuses for the length of this post but the information should be useful for all of the next four weeks. I’ve put together a very eclectic mix of portraits on my Pinterest Board at

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jhall1282/portraits/head-and-shoulders/

Making studies from photographs makes some things easier; the subject is already translated into two dimensions; it’s the easiest way to attempt wriggling children, and also to maintain consistent lighting etc.  The down side is that many photographs tend to flatten the image so that we lose the sense of three dimensions and it is all too easy to copy slavishly instead of using the reference as a starting point.  

Choosing a reference photograph

For the next four weeks we will consider working from photos of the head and shoulders and I suggest starting with a front or three quarter view. Reference photos with directional lighting from either side or above are more useful in revealing the form of the head and its features than those in which the head is evenly lit.  Even lighting makes it very difficult to make the nose appear three dimensional and in painting as in a tonal drawing colour and tone will be more important than line to depict forms that are in reality three dimensional. Shadows on the face become even more interesting if the subject is wearing a hat but I suggest for this week it’s hats off and your first task is to find a suitable reference.

To Crop or not to Crop?

Once you have selected a suitable image you may find more content is more included than you wish to use for your portrait. It may be that more of the figure is included or that the surround is too large. Try using two L shaped pieces of card arranging them like a view finder so you can decide on an attractive crop for the image. Once found it’s a good idea to attach them so that you always return to work from the same part of the reference.

Composition

Now that a reference has been selected and cropped it could be imagined that all that remains is to go ahead and paint, and that’s possible but it may be better to think a few things through first, especially with regard to;

position of the head and its size in relation to the support, size of the finished work, background, tonal balance, colour composition

This is the stage where it would be useful to make a few thumbnail sketches. These should be no more than 3 x 4 inches and all on the same sheet of paper. Explore some of the following using a rectangle of the same proportions as the support to be used for the finished work.;

a) The position of the head on the paper e.g. as in the reference or to right or left, further up or down

b) Size of the head compared to the support, and size of finished work. Very often a photo reference contains the face but not absolutely all of the head. This can look charming at a small scale but presents considerable problems at a much larger scale. Very often head and shoulder portraits are made at three quarter life size so for an adult’s head and shoulders with some background 12 x 16 inches or about A3 would be fine and still allow the head to “breathe”. If only a child’s head/face fills the image so that there is virtually no background you may consider working much smaller at say 8 x 10 inches. Those working on paper can always cut paper accordingly but if you are using board or canvas you should work out the size you wish to work at carefully beforehand.

c) Background or vignette: Photographs of head and shoulders will have a background. It is a valid choice to paint without a background if that would suit the subject.

d) Does the background in the reference detract from or is it important to the way in which you wish to paint the portrait.  Backgrounds may need simplifying, even to the extent of making them fairly uniformly  dark or pale.  Try both in separate sketches to see what would suit the subject best. 

e) The main tonal areas of the head, neck and shoulders, and the hair. A small thumbnail sketch should really help you sort out the large areas and perhaps pinpoint the real highlights in the reference. It will also help you sort out the fact that the eyes are always in shade.

This is the point when you should also start to think about colour;

e) Complexion: Is the subject pale or dark skinned?  Although we are only looking at the head and shoulders are clothes important and colourful and are some of those colours reflected in the face, especially neck, chin and sometimes the cheeks. See colour notes below for fair and dark skins.

f) Clothes and jewellery: Is the sitter wearing a hat or jewellery and how important are these to the composition? If a brimmed hat you should have already looked at the shadows this may cast across the face.

g) Background colours: do these enhance or detract from the portrait reference? These may be simplified and/or changed.

You may like to make a thumbnail colour sketch and work out some suitable flesh colours and see how these would work alongside colour swatches for background and clothes.

A mid toned paper would be suitable for working with pastel. If using acrylic or you may like to lay down a layer of white or tinted gesso, or thinned paint. At this stage you may decide whether to draw the image on to the support or whether as many painters do, or to start by blocking in the main shapes and tones and gradually refining these till your portrait is finished.

However you start it is important to reduce distortions when transferring the main shapes to the support by always working at the same ratio of dimensions on the support as in the reference.  If working on canvas choose a size with the dimensions in the nearest ratio to the reference.

For example if your reference is 5 x 7 inches and you wish to scale up to twice the size a 12 x 16 inch canvas would be suitable but remember to lightly mark a rectangle of 10 x 14 inches ready to scale up the reference. When painting begins the paint can be extended to cover the margins but at the initial stages this will ensure that you should be able to get the proportions correct.

Draw the image on the support; either freehand or by using a grid.

Freehand: Personally I prefer to do most of the drawing freehand but often make a feint line across both my reference and support, dividing them both into quarters. This is helpful in checking whether the subject’s head is slightly tilted and gives a rough guide where to place the main shapes and to check the proportions and angles.

Grid: Many find a more exacting grid method useful. Stanley Spencer used grids extensively. If you wish to try this find a piece of acetate and make a grid of 1 inch squares. Lay this across your reference and make a corresponding grid of larger squares on the support (two inch squares for two times reference dimensions), remembering to work out the margins if the proportions of the support are not exactly the same as the reference. You can then transfer the drawing square by square from the reference. While accurate, this can result in a stiffer drawing so ensure you preserve the flow of the forms as they relate to each other.

Just draw the main lines and shapes including eyes, mouth, nostrils, nose and ear positions as well as the main head and shoulders shapes.  At this point you can decide whether to start your painting by blocking in the main shapes or by making a tonal under drawing or painting.  I may decide to start an acrylic painting by making a tonal drawing in charcoal, fixing this and laying a thin layer of transparent paint, perhaps burnt sienna or a more neutral colour thinned with water and a little slow drying medium and wiping out the highlights with a rag. 

Blocking in:

In Pastel: A good way to start is to draw the main shapes and then to start lightly blocking in tones and colour with broad side strokes, broadly working from dark to light but often also marking the lightest and brightest areas early on.

In Acrylic Paint: Perhaps tint the surface as described earlier and mark out the main shapes of the composition broadly with a brush. Then start to paint in the main areas of tone.  I like to build up fairly tonally. This is a personal preference but within that I may like to indicate cooler and warmer areas, so it will not be a totally monochrome under painting.  No detail will be painted but I will establish the darkest, palest, and then with colour perhaps some of the most colourful areas and the background so that I have some key areas established. 

Flesh colours

Most flesh colour mixes have a brown as their base which is modified with other primary colours. other colours.  For fair skin this is often a burnt Sienna.  For middle complexions this may be a burnt umber and for dark complexions raw umber.  All of these can be modified with reds, yellows and for shadow areas blue. Some of you will have already experimented with the Zorn palette which makes successful flesh colours mainly because black and red will produce good browns.  A reminder of some of the colours possible with this palette is below. 

Try mixing your brown pigments with reds, yellows, white to make flesh colours and see what happens when you add a little blue or a little viridian.

Also note the difference between using a cool red like carmine or crimson alizarin or a more orange red such as vermilion or cadmium red pale in the mixes.

The flesh tones can be built up with opaque or transparent paint using darker and cooler shades for the shadow areas and pale opaque paint for the palest areas.  See if any areas are picking up colours reflected from clothes or from the background and include these. 

Practical

1.Thumbnail sketches  as indicated earlier; exploring composition, tone and colour.

2. Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting it would be good to have the composition worked out on the support; as a drawing for watercolour; or a charcoal under-drawing for pastel quite heavily fixed so that the colour can be worked over the drawing.  In the case of a young person the pastel drawing should not be too dark.

If working in acrylic you may prefer to make a tonal under-painting or block in the main areas of colour, or make a tonal under-drawing, fix it and wash with a thin layer of very transparent paint. The paint layer will seal the charcoal and prevent it from lifting.

I hope to demonstrate some colour mixes and applying the first layers of paint. So the review session will be short. 

Illustrations will be added to this post during the week.

Your work:

This week is a mix of finished and preparatory work;

Jean
Tonal acrylic under painting (unfinished) by Malcolm
Exploratory Drawings by Ann
Watercolour by Ann
Drawing and watercolour studies by Heather
Tone and colour studies by Liz
Thumbnail drawings by John
Watercolour by Maricarmen
Thumbnails by Elizabeth
Tonal study by Maryon
Drawing transferred from preparatory drawing by gridding
by Maryon
Drawing ready for colour by Shane
Watercolour by Sarah

The Power of Colour 6: Red and Green

February 9, 2021

Hard and soft edges; colours allowed to mix on the paper; Vermilion, Alizarin Crimson, Sap Green, Phthalocyanine Green

This week I just took a little time exploring how two reds, one closely related to orange, Vermilion and the other Alizarin Crimson, closer to purple, mixed and related to two very different greens, Sap Green which is much more yellow that Phthalocyanine Green which leans toward blue.

This is the same watercolour with swatches of the four different pigments superimposed.
Middle has Sap green and Crimson Alizarin squares.
Right has Phthalo Green and Vermilion squares.
Look at how differences in tone and differences in hue determine how bright or dull each square appears in its surroundings. See how the top left red square in the middle image almost disappears and how bright the pure vermilion in the image looks against a complementary dark green and also against a very dark tone in the image on the right. Even the top left Vermilion square looks subdued against reds that are more like it with regard to hue and tone.
The Scarf Mix 1
Sadly where the spots were painted against their complementary colour, even though these were very de-saturated (impure), a black line appeared where some of the paint mixed. However this dark line does make the spots glow!
The Scarf Mix 2 with Collaged Spots
The dark line of the first scarf image was eliminated by digitally collaging spots of the same pure colour with no outline. There is still a slight optical illusion of a dark edge, especially on the Phthalo Green spot on the impure Crimson Alizarin mix, due to after images making the edge “vibrate”.
Look at how all these spots glow from their de-saturated surroundings and
how much brighter they appear than the same dots of colour on the white ground to the left.
Each Quadrant of the scarf was painted with only two colours.
The left pair share Vermilion
The right pair share Crimson Alizarin
I was not surprised by the darks or brownish colours but really enjoyed the near purple colours achieved with Phthalo Green and Crimson Alizarin

You may have different greens and reds in your paint box. Take some time to discover how near to orange or purple s each red is and how near to yellow or blue each green is.

Viridian, Phthalocyanine Green, Cobalt green and Prussian Green are all examples of greens nearer to blue. Sap Green is a more yellow green and Hooker’s Green is much bluer than Sap Green but more yellow than Phthalo Green.

Vermilion, and Cadmium Red Pale are much nearer to orange than Crimson Alizarin, Quinacridone Rose and Magenta and you may have other reds which are somewhere between the two.

Before homing in on the green and red pigments you choose for your painting subjects this week find which combinations will be best suited by experimenting a little.

Have a look at this week’s Pinterest board at

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jhall1282/the-power-of-colour/red-and-green/

In each example make a note of how the red and green pigments are being employed and how they interact. Observe how red looks when surrounded by dark, pale tones, by similar hues and by complementary colours both pale greens, dark greens, yellow greens and bluer greens.

Practical

Choose only two from the following list and make two paintings incorporating one in each. That doesn’t mean to say the other items won’t be present but I would like you to have one main theme for each painting, just as a story may involve one main character and a couple of supporting roles. Don’t feel you have to do two paintings. One well thought out composition is really worthwhile.

  1. A bright red line winding a bright way through a green and a very close blue green of similar tone
  2. A painting with very equal amounts of red and green
  3. A painting that is almost all green with a tiny flash of red or a painting with a large area of red with a little green.
  4. A painting where the colours adjacent to each other are just slightly different but span the range between red and green. This should involve a lot of mixing either wet in wet or on the palette/overlaying colours.
  5. A painting with huge tonal differences.

You may use white pure in areas and in mixes, and your paintings may be representational or abstract. The medium is up to you. Try to make dark tones by mixing the appropriate reds and greens and use black only if essential.

Think very carefully about how many greens you wish/need to work with and how many reds. The illustrations will give you some idea of the scope of using only four pigments but you may wish to explore lots of greens in a painting and only one red for instance. Try to have a reason for your choices.

After a while it becomes intuitive to just go for the “right” colour knowing how it will appear on its own and in mixes, and you will definitely begin to enjoy using some pigments more than others. I firmly believe that individual colour choices and combinations form as much of the identity of an artist as the shapes and lines he produces. (“he” being used in the universal mankind sense here.) Think this has already been born out in the last few weeks by those who prefer orange and blue to yellow and violet and vice versa!

Your paintings;

Inspired by a Chihuly installation at Kew Gardens
Watercolour and oil pastel by Liz
Red and Green
Watercolour by Liz
Brilliant Red, Alizarin, Sap Green, Winsor Green
Grand- daughter
Oil pastel and watercolour by Maricarmen
Red Line
Watercolour and collage by Maryon
The colours used throughout Maryon’s works are;
Sap Green, Phthalo Green, Viridian, Madder Red Deep
and oil pastel in green and white.
Lady in a Turban
Collage and watercolour by Maryon
Watermelon
Watercolour and oil pastel by Maryon
Inspired by Cathelin Poster for EXPO 90
Heather exchanged black areas for red
Acrylic
Viridian, Sap and Light green plus Deep Red and Vermilion.
Watercolour by Heather
Greens used are;
Viridian, Sap Green and Hookers Green
Red Dragonfly by Heather
Watercolour and pastel
Alizarin crimson, Scarlet and Vermilion on the dragon fly. Pencil for the wings.
Red Line
Collage and watercolour by Shirley
Reflections
Collage and watercolour by Shirley
Dahlia
Watercolour by Jan
Permanent Red, Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Rose
Sap Green, Hookers Green, Perylene Green
Red Tree
Watercolour by Jan
Permanent Red, Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Rose
Sap Green, Hookers Green, Perylene Green
Red and Green
Watercolour by Ann
After Alexej von Jawlensky; Schokko in a Red Hat
Acrylic by Barbara
Scarlet, Cadmium Red
Viridian, Leaf Green, Medium Green
Snowdonia
Watercolour by Sarah
Hookers Green, Sap Green, Crimson, Vermilion
Hydrangeas
Watercolour by Sarah
Crimson, Vermilion, Hookers Green, Sap Green, Viridian, White
After Kees van Dongen
by John
Viridian, Sap Green, Cadmium Red
Snake in the Grass
Acrylic by Malcolm
The light background is a total undercoat of clear varnish with a touch of Phthalo Green in producing a nice turquoise.
Colours used were;
Phthalo Green (G7) and Sap Green (B15.3, Y74),
Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Scarlet, Magenta

The Power of Colour 5: Red

February 3, 2021

Red Spot
Watercolour

Red demands our attention even in the smallest quantities. The tiniest area of pure red can form a focal point as in the painting of the blue rug above. It’s like an itch that cannot be ignored.

I will Protect You!
Oil pastel
This work references a medieval sgraffito wedding plate found in Cyprus and now in the Ashmolean Museum.
Only one dark red pastel is used over a base of well rubbed in pale orange-yellow which was revealed when the red was drawn into.

Where blue may be sad or holy, red is fiery, passionate, romantic, celebratory. Blue is recession or depression, red leads the cavalry to advance. We need both the calm of blue and the jollity of red for a balanced colour diet.

Look at the way red is used in the works on this week’s Pinterest board at:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jhall1282/the-power-of-colour/red/

Look at the red dot in Matisse’s cut out “Icarus”. See how different reds interact in the abstracts by Rothko and Patrick Heron. Explore how Bernard Cathelin manipulates red in still life, portrait and studies of groups of figures.

This week for all the studies you may use any red pigment alone or in combination with other reds. You may use Magenta, Quinacridone Rose, Alizarin as well as the warmer reds cadmium Red Pale, Scarlet and Vermilion. It would be useful for these studies to have one cool red(nearer to purple) and one warm red(nearer to orange).

One way to understand your reds is to test each one by discovering how it appears surrounded by black , white or a different red. Make a note of which appear to advance or whether the same red appears different against different surrounding hues. After that try at least one of the following red/reds to make a composition. You may use back and white, mixed with the reds or as areas of white and black. These paintings may be abstract or representational, hard or soft edged.

1. Make a painting using one or more red pigments, black and white. This may be hard or soft edged, abstract or representational.

2. Make a painting with red as in 1. but a small amount of a related hue may be used, but only one; either a reddish orange or a reddish mauve but not both.

3. Make a painting with any colour but include one small area of red as a focus.

Trophies
This painting references a composite wooden statue from Nigeria drawn at the British Museum. The red background is a monoprint of black and red mixes drawn over the top with acrylic inks. Only black, red and white is used.

Your paintings;


Lady in Red by Barbara
Inspired by the portrait of Anita Berber by Otto Dix
Anemones in a Jug
Watercolour by Maricarmen
After a painting by Jill Leman RAWCA
Flowers in a Dark Pot
Oil pastel my Maricarmen
Exploring Red with Miro
Watercolour by Maricarmen
Exploring Reds with other Colours with help from Terry Frost
Watercolour by Maricarmen
Exploring Red Black and White
watercolour by Maryon
Honesty and Hawthorn
India Ink and watercolour by Maryon
The red is Madder Lake
Variation on a 60’s Textile Design
Watercolour by Maryon
Quinacridone rose, Vermillion, Black
White mixed with the reds
The Red Earring
Watercolour by Maryon
The earring is Vermillion and the skin tones
are mixes of black and vermillion.
Still Life after Bernard Cathelin
Watercolour by John
Mainly cadmium Red and Black
Bowl of Cherries
Watercolour by John
Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Black, little Ultramarine
Geisha
Acrylic by Heather
Scarlet, Deep Red, Rose, Black and White.
Cape Verde Memory
Heather’s watercolour version of an African print
Vermillion, Alizarin Crimson, Black and Orange plus Black oil pastel and a touch of Yellow oil pastel
Red mixes; reds with black and white; black and red resist with oil pastel and watercolour
by Shirley
Attic Window Design
Watercolour and Oil Pastel by Shirley
Welsh National Costume
A red for every cloak
Watercolour by Shirley
Same Red different Blues
Watercolour by Shirley
Red Desert
Watercolour and oil pastel by Jan
Poinsettia
Watercolour by Jan
Dahlia
Watercolour and oil pastel by Jan
Four Reds: after a collage by Geoffrey Pimlott
Acrylic by Malcolm
My reds are Naphthol R9 (lightest); Cad Red Medium R108 (middling); Permanent Alizarin R175+R122 (darkest, used mass tone only); Quin Magenta R122. Black is Carbon Bk7.
Fishing Boats at Hastings after John Blockley
Acrylic by Malcolm
Transparent Perinone Orange O73, a reddish orange tints the pink undercoat visible in places. Reds are Naphthol and Cadmium Red Medium; both mixed with black for the browns.
Red Flowers
Watercolour by Liz
Abstract after Wharhol
Red and black watercolour with
red oil pastel resist by Liz
After Liotard’s Pastel of the Maid serving Chocolate
Watercolour and pastel by Liz
Ballet Shoes
Watercolour by Ann
Bowie
Watercolour by Ann
Rose
Watercolour by sarah
Crimson, Vermillion, Black
and a little oil pastel resist
Red Trees
Watercolour by Sarah
Crimson, Vermillion, Rose Madder, Black
Chrysanthemums
Watercolour by Sarah
Crimson, Vermillion, White, Black
with Cerulean, Ultramarine and Sap Green
This painting will lead us very nicely into thinking about the project for next week.