Work in Progress

This is the first phase of the latest portrait that I am working on. He is the father of Marion. She was kind enough to lend me his photo to paint him by.

There are certain things that I look for in a photo to copy for a portrait. First of all I like a face that shows character and/or there is a special "feeling" about the facial expression. I look for a clear photo that shows the features well enough to copy for an accurate depiction of the individual. I also want to see highlights and shadows a gradations of value in between. This photo of Marion's dad had all of them.

I started by drawing the face, features and shirt. I copied the outline and then worked more free hand for the features. Then I added the first layers of paint. I started with aureolin yellow and cadmium yellow. I painted around the highlighted areas. Then I added more paint in the darker areas.

I feel that I started to capture Marion's Dad right from these beginning phases. It is a good feeling when that happens. Sometimes it takes a while longer to start seeing the look of the person. (And sometimes it never happens at all.)

Thank you Kim for requesting that I post the work in progress of a portrait. I will continue to post my development of Marion's Dad. Let me know if there are any other things you would like to see posted. It's always helpful to get your feedback.