Monday, April 30, 2012

BEHIND THE SCENES: Portrait Painting in Progress

I'm currently working on a portrait commission for a friend whose son has been playing hockey in Canada.  He wanted an action pose, so he sent me some photos of JJ, taken during a game.

I start with a pencil drawing, which I send back to my friend for approval.





After getting Scott's approval, I enlarge the drawing to the size that we've agreed upon . . . 




Then, I prepare the watercolor paper.  I stretch it onto gatorboard, and paint a wet-in-wet underpainting . . 




After the paper is bone dry and flat again, I transfer the drawing onto the paper, using transfer paper. . . 




Now, it's time to paint.  (First, I rub an eraser lightly over all the graphite lines, to lighten them a bit.)  I start with yellows and golds . . .




Then, I paint the reds -- very lightly . . . 




Now, for the light blues.  I also use the light cobalt blue to lay in some shadows, to start getting some form in his jersey and legs . . .




So, this is the first pass, where I get all the colors in, very lightly.  I'm not using any masking, so I need to preserve the white of the paper.


I then start painting the medium values . . . 



Stay tuned for the finished painting, and all the steps leading up to it.  I will be finishing this week, since it needs to be matted and shipped to arrive before Mother's Day!

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