Painting Portrait Tips / Lots of information about how to paint a portrait
The answer to my question of two weeks ago, where in this watercolour portrait I applied two gouache strokes, is this: the bright reflected light under the chin and the blue accent on the collar of the shirt. Among the good answers I raffeld a DVD.
The DVD goes to:
Marija Gaspar from Zagreb. Congratulations Marija!
Thank you all for your participation.
I’ve never been very stocky and my weight has never made me any concern.
But now I see the studies that I made in front of the mirror when I was twenty years old, I do see a very skinny body. However, I could see enough muscles to name them.
I will not reveal my actual weight…
This is a commissioned portrait in watercolour that I made years ago. During the sitting I noticed the independent and tranquil look of this little boy.
“An artist is not a psychologist,” I quoted in one of my last posts. Yet a portrait painter is happy if he sees a quality in a face he wants to emphasize. So was I and I tried to capture this pensive look. I was sincerely happy when the mother exclaimed: “Yes, this is my son with his eternal gaze!“.
The portrait is in watercolour but there are two brushstrokes in gouache. I wonder if someone can find them? Among those who give the right answer I will raffle a video demonstration. Let’s say up to a fortnight.
There ain´t no cure for drawing, making doodles every lost moment. Thoughtlessly drawing, that is what doodles sketches is about.
If there is no pencil and paper near the phone, I cannot have a long conversation. I know: Drawing is a disease.
“I draw like other people bite their nails” (Pablo Picasso)
Above one of my long-call telephone doodles.
Paul C. Burns says: “An artist is a visual recorder of facts, not a psychologist probing the sitter’s self.” I largely agree with him. Paint what you see before you. Still, I find it important to know something of the character of the model. It can help whilst posing. Posing is an interaction between the sitter and I. A model feels more at ease when I am patient and sympathetic. My attitude must be inviting. Only then can we create something good. In the end a model should give me something that I can give back in the portrait.
The model in this image I know well and I know her character. She is energetic and vigorous. I suppose that it has become visible. In my enthusiasm however I overlooked a small detail. I now see that the fingers of her right hand are spread too wide. The model’s energy and vigor has therefore become a little too exaggerated.
There is always a detail that you would like to change when you look back on your own work.