This was a commissioned portrait of a young girl and here are before and after images to show how I developed the underpainting. Grisaille underpainting was completed first and then I added some layers of colour glazes. With this method, rather than mixing the colours on the palette the colours are ‘mixed’ optically through progressive glazes […]
Tag: portrait commission
Commissioned portrait painting
These images (the 1st 2 are film stills) show the first 3 glazes as they went on, alongside the initial underpainting. This portrait was a challenge in the sense that I underestimated how light the reference was and how light the final painting would be, so the grisaille was too dark to begin with and […]
Portrait painting showing grisaille underpainting
This is a detail of a painting that I have shown before of the effect of glazing over a grisaille underpainting in a short time.
New video on youtube of the grisaille and glazing process
I wanted to share the magical transformation an oil painting undergoes, glazing oil colour over a monotone underpainting. I filmed myself painting the glaze and velatura over this portrait for one hour, in 3 short videos – this being the first. Its the first glaze and there will be a few others to finish the […]
Pencil portrait, spot the difference
I was recently commissioned to do a drawing of two twins. See if you can spot the difference. I worked very closely from the photo provided but the client didn’t like the way the tongue looked in the end, so I had to do a bit of human photoshopping. In hindsight it was never going […]
Oil painting demonstration: Glazing over grisaille – Portrait of Amy
This is Amy’s portrait, glazed in oil paints. I filmed myself doing this and it will shortly be on my youtube channel. Its still in the early stages, and when this layer is dry I’ll go over it again, up to 3 or 4 times. I don’t know if I’m going to film those other […]
Underpainting using Titanium White and Ivory Black oil paint on canvas
Underpainting is a technique used since the renaissance. It usually refers to a monochrome foundation or base layer, and layers of paint are applied on top
Revelation with colour glazing
One of the most important things that has happened to me in all the years I have been portrait painting was going on a course run by Louis Smith in 2014, learning about glazing. Looking at his website I thought this would be about glazing as I understood it where you have a very thin translucent […]
First glazing over grisaille portrait
I’ve put the first colour glaze put on this portrait in 2 stressful hours! A few more glazes needed and I’ll add them over the coming days. I use M. Graham’s Walnut Alkyd medium which dries overnight – or to be extra sure within 48 hours. I enjoyed painting his ear and chuffed with the […]
