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Portraits have to be recognisable and so Freda likes to spend time getting to know the face. She finds that it helps to do a watercolour sketch and to consult several photographs of the subject (there are limits to how long people want to sit for you).  |
You would be very lucky to get everything right first
time. Often, her first step for a portrait is to make a drawing on thin layout
paper and then trace this (charcoal on the back) to the final paper or board. A
double advantage of this is that |
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We were taken through the construction of a face, using charcoal:
 a circle,
centre-line,
central cross
at top of eyebrows, eye-line, ears at the back of a slice taken off at the side (top
level with eyebrow cross, bottom with bottom of nose) extend down to chin (as
far below the base of the nose as the eyebrow cross is above it) centre line of mouth is
critical - bottom of bottom lip is half way from bottom of nose to chin repeated checking to see
where the subject differs from these "typical" dimensions define shaded areas and
rub out highlights. |
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Freda likes to have got rid of the texture of the canvas weave by
priming with thick gesso. Acrylic is usually her choice for the
underpainting. You can't do a portrait in oils in a 2-hour demo so she produced a pre-prepared self-portrait charcoal sketch for the next part. By the way, be careful with the hands (measure - they are bigger than you think) Once you are happy with the charcoal sketch on the canvas, rub out all unnecessary or confusing lines and draw over it (referring to the source to make further corrections) with thinned burnt sienna. Let it dry completely. |
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Now for the background. Green is a good ground for skin. Freda
thinned it (Liquin's good for oils) and applied it all over the canvas, thin
enough to see through to the burnt sienna . Then she wiped it back with a rag
(or kitchen towel), possibly moistened with water for acrylic underpaintings,
or turps for oils. This was repeated by adding even more green over the darker parts of the picture, again wiping back for highlights and softer edges. Remember, tone is essential for a three-dimensional effect:- lights bringing things forward (like warm colours) and darks pushing them back. Working in oil, the timing is very much extended. If she has left an oil for more than a few days she likes to put a layer of re-touching varnish over the touch-dry surface to help the next layers to stick properly. |
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Now back to a pre-prepared version of the younger girl where the
"green and wipe-back" phase was dry. For the real painting with oils, Freda likes a hog filbert, not a round brush, for most of the work, moving to a sable for finer detail at the end. For flesh she uses a red (cadmium, red ochre or raw sienna) lightened with white and darkened with burnt sienna and/or the background green. She prefers flake white to titanium because it is less harsh. Raw umber and/or any blue are good for cooling the skin, and skin colours should appear in the hair for reflections. Apply touches of colour here and there - too much blending makes it too photographic. |
Far from finished, but it's often worth
checking in the frame to see how it's going |
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The individual stages of the picture,
illustrated below were: Stage 0 - A line/tonal sketch Stage 1 – Outlines painted in ultramarine, then main areas washed in thinly with colours for mood. Stage 2 – Going in thicker with close to the final colours Stage 3 – Finished picture |
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