20 artistDecember 2019 http://www.painters-online.co.uk
OILS
all the basic essentials are in place.
Positioning of the individual features:
eyes, nose and mouth will require
rigorous accuracy. It’s easy to be over
fussy, so it’s a good idea to know when
to stop working. The attainment of a
hard-fought likeness is one of painting’s
great pleasures and deeply satisfying.
Materials
Standard canvas-covered boards, as
used here, have a surface that I find
ideal for portrait study. For portraiture
and much of my landscape and marine
work, I tend to favour Rosemary & Co
short flat ivory bristle brushes in sizes 2
to 10, and Pro Arte acrylic rigger brushes
for the fine detail needed to secure a
likeness near completion.
My preferred palette of colours
includes titanium white, French
ultramarine, cerulean, raw sienna,
burnt sienna, viridian, cobalt violet,
permanent rose, Indian yellow, flesh
tint, cadmium orange, vermilion and
Naples yellow.
I have also included here a series of
portrait studies made over a period
of years at the Royal Institute of Oil
Painters’ annual exhibition events night,
which is held during the course of the
show at the Mall Galleries, London. It
has always made for an inspirational,
friendly paint-out with visitors painting
alongside ROI members. There’s usually
a choice of three sitters, all positioned
around the gallery.
t Matthew, Early Days, watercolour, 8 3 10in
(20.5 3 25.5cm).
This is Matthew – what a diference 20 years
makes! I feel sure certain facial similarities
have endured to the present day. This was a
small sketch made using a broad luid wash
technique, suggesting an inquisitive nature
even in those early yearsq Adebanji Alade, oil on canvas board,
203 16in (51 3 40.5cm).
Adebanji is vice president of the ROI and a
familiar igure, well-known to many painters.
He sacriiced his own painting evening to
sit for us all. The shine and glitter on the
headdress and scarf presented a particular
challenge and a very special experience for us
all – great funTAThis year’s ROI exhibition runs from November
29 to December 8; the art evening is on
December 3 and there is a prize of £150 worth
of Winsor & Newton art materials for the best
painting by a non-member artist. For full
details, see http://www.mallgalleries.org.uk