PORTRAIT EXERCISES
PROCESS
Prepare your canvas with a base
colour – I chose a mix of Primary Cyan,
Burnt Sienna and Titanium White.
Use a 1” flat brush for the preliminary
drawing as this produces looser,
flowing lines. Sketch out a long
rectangular box shape which roughly
assumes the length of the face
(including the beard in the case of my
example). Add an eye line, centre line
and two small rectangular boxes for
the eye sockets.
The three-quarter view means
everything is off-centre, so include
an elongated triangle for the nose,
a small squashed rectangle for the
mouth and a downward rectangle for
the ear. All lines should be applied
loosely with one swoop of the brush- these are areas on which to base
more refined shapes later.
Shape the face with various straight
lines, avoiding any curves. It is often
easier to deal with less difficult, large
areas first, such as the shape of the
face and the hair, so that you can
work your way up to trickier aspects
such as the main features.
Once you’ve moulded the
main shape, place the eyes
with small, fairly accurate
lines. Again, avoid over-fussing
the drawing and simply try to
place the eye line and then a
centre line to position them, which will
make it easier to find the nose later.
As the portrait takes shape, avoid
becoming precious about the drawing
and expect to make several changes
as the painting progresses – it’s
enough to start the painting with a
good idea of composition and the
foundations of a likeness.
With the drawing in place, begin
blocking in colour. Use several warm
colours including Azo Yellow Medium,
Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Pyrrole
Red, the violets and a touch of
Phthalo Green using a damp 2”
flat brush.
Use several diagonal strokes to
apply darker variations of warm red
for the shaded areas of skin – these
should follow the lines in the drawing
but not entirely literally. As you
concentrate on the reference
material, you will draw more
information in, and become better
placed to sharpen up the accuracy.Top tip
Keep the paint
application very
direct throughout
to maintain energy
and momentum