Artists & Illustrators - April 2016_

Artists & Illustrators 77

MASTERCLASS

8 REFRESH THE DARKS

It’s important to always refresh the darks

to keep moving the painting forward.

Otherwise, the temptation is to tinker,

when really what’s needed is to consider

the relationship between the larger areas

of dark and light. Step back frequently to

see these and keep an eye on the whole.

12 FINISHING TOUCHES

To fi nish, I applied very opaque oils with the

bright brushes, fl oating it on top of the more

thinly-applied layers beneath. This is evident

around Michael’s left ear where a few

carefully chosen colours helped explain the

side of the face, the sideburns and the warm

light on the ear.

I recommend that you become familiar

with painting with fl at, bright brushes, as they

allow you to pick out what’s important

without getting caught up in too much detail.

11 MAKE MARKS QUICKLY

I move from feature to feature quickly – for

example, with three moves, I applied marks

to indicate the dark of the iris, the dark of the

nostril and the dark patch between the beard

and shirt collar. The light on the nose was

made clearer and brighter too.

Ignoring the details of the patterned suit,

I instead focused on fi nding the shifting tones

of skin and beard. I preferred to sculpt these

areas in more detail.

10 LET THE LIGHTS SING

A great way to describe the form of the

forehead is to establish the two directions

of the eyebrow line, as I did here. The colour

was a mix of Vandyke Brown and French

Ultramarine, which I exploited elsewhere

on the jacket collar and the darker parts

of Michael’s beard. By painting these darks,

the lighter tones can sing out in comparison.

I steadily made adjustments here, as I

continued to look with curiosity at the face I

was painting. The oil paint can be wiped away

easily, leaving the acrylic underneath intact.

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9 PUSH THE COLOUR

Michael sat by a north-facing window, so

as the day progressed the light on my

easel faded a little, whereas the areas of

light on his face and hair stayed constant.

I used the rag here to push the

background colour up to the left of the

head, contrasting it with the dark hair to

add drama. There were some splashes and

drips on the jacket, where I took the

opportunity to loosen up again in contrast

to more focused brushwork elsewhere.

74 Masterclass.indd 77 17/02/2016 16:06