http://www.painters-online.co.uk artist February 2021 53BEYOND A LIKENESS – TURNING A PORTRAIT INTO A PAINTING: 2ND OF 4
How to
paint hair
Ann Witheridge continues her series by showing
you how the way you paint hair can help to enhance
the characterisation of your sitter
L
ast month we considered the
relevance of photography
and of the background of the
portrait. For me the background
is an incredibly important aspect of
a portrait and can turn a portrait into
a painting, even when there is no
tangible information in the background.
In this article we will be looking at the
treatment of the hair, every element
of which can help to enhance a
painting. The hair is very important as
it frames the face and is so telling of
a likeness and characterisation. When
we recognise someone in the street,
we often are too far away to see their
features, it is the shape of their head
and how their hair sits on their skull that
we recognise.Values and rhythms
I don’t treat hair any differently to any
other subject. That is, I’m not thinking
about the subject or object per se but
about the shapes, the value patterns,
the colour notes, the edges and of
course the relationships of these
elements. So, as with all subjects
and objects, there is an approach to
painting naturalistically.
When looking at historical paintings
we often joke that painting a man was
so much easier as they all had half their
portrait covered with a beard. It does
make it simpler to create a dynamic
portrait when we can have such strong
rhythms in the beard. In my portrait
of Owen (left) I had a wonderful time
painting the beard and the fun curl of
the moustache. It was so much easier
to characterise this subject with his
fantastic moustache; I was also able to
soften around the lips and along the
cheeks with the side burns.
p Owen, oil on copper, 12 3 10in (30.5 3 25.5cm) There are also very few blondes in
Ann Witheridge
studied art history at Christ’s College,
Cambridge before moving to Italy
to study art full-time. She has been
teaching drawing and painting in the
atelier tradition for over 20 years. Ann
founded London Fine Art Studios to
teach the craft of drawing and painting
to dedicated artists.
http://londonfineartstudios.com
http://annwitheridge.com