Painting the Portrait Head

This month we share an introduction to painting the portrait head with these three different methods. We hope that these quick demonstrations will inspire you to consider the many different approaches artists can take when interpreting a subject.

Susan Blackwood

One Way of Getting Started – Girl with the Red Earring

Years ago, when I was jut getting started in oils, I took a workshop from Master painter Zhiwei Tu. One of the many points that I carried away with that workshop was: “Don’t get stuck in a rut. Start your paintings in many different ways. That will bring freshness and growth to your work”.

Step 1. I try to start my paintings in a variety of different ways. For this portrait I put a thin wash of various colors of oils combined with Gamsol onto the canvas. This then became the basis of the background. I used warm tones where the face would be and cooler tones in the background. Much of this original wash will be the final background for the painting.

Step 2. I paint the wash …