THE OBJECTIVE & SET-UP:
I often do quick painting demos for my classes using a live model where I introduce some basic medium information, materials and discuss color theory for beginning, intermediate and advanced painters. There are many ways I work with acrylic paint but in this demo I will summarize a portrait study I did of my model Karen using acrylic paint very loosely and applied in thin transparent washes. One of the advantages to the fast drying time of acrylic paint is the ability to build up layers of color and shadow very quickly! Enjoy!
THE DRAWING:
This can be done in pencil (2B graphite), but here I used a synthetic round brush (#6) and phthalo blue acrylic paint. I concentrated on blocking in the major forms, lights and shadows, and paying particular attention to proportioning. This is done loosely with watered down paint. I am attempting to establish a three value painting, creating highlight, middle value, and core shadow areas. The phthalo blue could be applied in a light wash over the top of a finished graphite drawing later if you prefer to do the drawing in graphite first.
THE MULL:
A mull is anything you do to the surface of your painting in the form of a wash applied uniformly over the entire painting. I even get a little loose and throw some paint around creating drips around the edges. In this case I added a cadmium orange wash thinned with lots of water. A touch of alizarin crimson can be added in to deepen the orange. By having used a blue paint to do the drawing I now have established a chromatic relationship with the highlights set in a warm cadmium orange and the shadows in a cool phthalo blue. Using color to strengthen your forms makes for more interesting and colorful work.
SKIN TONES & LOCALS:
I now added more alizarin crimson (thinned with water) in the form of washes to help transition from the warm cadmium highlights that I established in the mull to the core shadows I established with the phthalo blue drawing. It is in this transition to the core shadows that I establish a local color, in this case a rosy colored (blood-flushed) cheek. I also add some of the alizarin crimson to the head wrap that was violet colored. I apply the color more thickly and saturated to help "colorize" the the wrap.
DEEPENING SHADOWS:
I now need to deepen my shadows to provide a more full set of values and create contrast. There are a number of color combinations that could be used for this (mixing cool-compliments for example) but in this case I reach for one of my favorite shadow colors paynes grey. Paynes grey is a great color that is deep enough to feel like black but is actually a blue-greyish color. Using solid black would only de-saturate my existing shadow colors and flatten the illusion of form. Using paynes grey can deepen shadows while preserving a harmonious color palette.
HIGHLIGHTS & SPECS:
To finish up this study I add some bright highlights and what we call specular highlights. Specular highlights are the reflections of light on moist or wet surfaces making them read as smooth in texture. This can be the most fun adding finishing touches of paint (very thickly) that create the greatest impact in their effect. Don't over do it though, preserve the bright whites for the truly bright reflections. The greater your contrast in your lighting set-up, the easier it is to see where these highlight areas will be applied.
High contrast images are fun and easy to render and look at, but remember truly GREAT painting comes in the subtleties of color mixing, value, and application of the paint. So enjoy the gradual build up of color and discover the world of mixing color, creating contrast and mixing paint.
Happy painting!
Artwork and Demo: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher
"Karen Head Study"
11x14 in.
acrylic on bristol
I had set out to to do several pieces on this subject matter. I didn't want to focus on the baby, but on the social, cultural, and emotional aspect of going through this transformation in one's life; becoming a parent. This is not a picture about the baby, but about the people around the baby.
