http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistFebruary 2021 25
w
PAINTING ELLA
The portrait of Ella was painted in a single
session of approximately three hours. After
doing a layout in charcoal to establish
placement and proportions, I then set about
establishing a block-in of colours, focusing
on values and trying to match the colours in
front of me as accurately as possible.
I regard this type of painting as a kind of
‘reactionary realism’ – although Ella sat
still under a constant light source, I had
to remain aware of the thousands of little
subtle changes which inevitably occur
during any sitting. The model is alive and
breathing; she blinks and reacts – however
subtly – to me observing her. Subtle changes
of expression take place all the time: an
eyebrow acting independently from the
other, perhaps, or the beginning of a dimple
appearing and fading.
During occasional conversations, especially
during the breaks, I could study the
movement of Ella’s face, and more tell-tale
signs became apparent. My own continual
movement also allowed me to see other
angles of Ella’s head, giving me a three-
dimensional image of my model that I had to
resolve into the two-dimensional image and
angle I had chosen.
One of the biggest advantages when
painting alla prima is that there is a natural
order of what is important. One hardly
notices things that are irrelevant to the task
at hand. Working wet-into-wet also creates
subtle edges which are impossible to create
any other way.
EARLY STAGES
Any drawing is gradually eliminated as the
paint is added. Drawing and painting are
similar disciplines – it is the underlying skill of
observation that is really of importance
INITIAL SKETCH u
This charcoal sketch helped me to plan the
placement and proportion of the shapes