Family Portrait Commission - the daughter updated

Blogger has been having issues the past couple of days so please see link for image Portrait
Well I think the daughter's portrait is looking much better now :) It is a bit of a tough photo to work from as were the boys as the photos are a bit blurry and over flashed so alot of the shadows and features are washed out, but they are such great expressions! It really helps to have photoshop (or any other software to work with) so that the tonal values can be adjusted back and forth depending on where you are at in the drawing stage to exagerate the shadows. You can get the same effect from squinting, but this is much easier on the eyes ;) I will leave her for a bit and may come back and make minor tweaks along with the rest of the family.

Family Portrait Commission - Sketch and Reference Photo

This is the start of my latest commission. It is a sketch of the grandparents, father and children which will be a birthday gift for the father from a very nice friend. The artwork is 15 x 19 on a sheet of 16 x 20 Arches Hot Pressed watercolor paper.

The layout took a bit of reworking both by the client and myself and I think it was well worth the effort. It has a very nice flow which draws the eye from the father around the portrait to the other family members.

As this is a larger commission, I will start with the grandparents and work my way down from right to left, top to bottom, to the kids, house & then the father to avoid smuding and keep the drawing fresh. Generally each portrait is completed to roughly 90% before moving onto the next and then final adjustments and tweaks are made at the end. Time to jump in!

Newborn Baby Watercolor Portrait - Fighting Sleep

I think this baby is finished but will leave it for a few days to decide if it needs tweaking. He looks like a little old man which goes with he personilty totally as he is so serious about everything. I have titled this portrait "Fighting Sleep" as he was trying so hard to stay awake but failed miserably ;)

Newborn Baby Watercolor Portrait wip 2

Many more layers have been added to build up the shape and add texture to the hair. The object the baby is lying on is from imagination and is not really a blanket or mattress. I wanted to mimic the shape of the baby but add a contemporary feel.

Acrylic Dog Portrait of Papillion

I have been playing with acrylic a bit as of late and

just completed this portrait of a papillion dog. The look he has on his face is priceless! I did take photos of the progress so I will upload as a work in progress when I get a chance as well.

Watercolor Portrait Completed

Well I think this is done! I will leave it for a few days and come back to it to see for sure and I will likely make some tweaks. I have added a few more glazed to the hair after lifting out some highlights. To lift out the highlights I just used a nylon angle brush with clean water and a tissue. You could also use a razor blade to scratch out the highlights but I think it looks too harsh. It is also scary to take a razor blade to a portrait after all this work! I also lifted some highlights out on the skin, eyes and shirt. I love this stage but it is easy to get carried away so I have to watch myself. The paint also lifts very easily at this point as there are so many layers of paint on the paper to a light hand is good! This photo seems to be a bit less red than the original, I can't seem to get it right ;)

Watercolor Portrait Demo #7

The hair has been painted in several layers to add depth and to obtain the rich red color in her hair. A dark mixture of ultramarine blue, burnt umber and yellow ochre was used for the darks. I then glazed over all of the hair with raw sienna and then a mix of burnt umber and a touch of sepia to give the red and brown tones. Still a bit more work to be done to add the detail to the hair.

Her face has been glazed with cadmium red with a touch of terre verte several times but still requires more glazes to give her a rosy glow. The lips have been painted more heavily with the same mixture. The eyes have several glazed of indandathrene blue with a touch of cadmium red. I may add more glazed once the portrait is nearer completion and will lift out the highlights later as well.

Watercolor Portrait Demo #6

A bit more modeling with venetian red and darkened the background.

Watercolor Portrait Demo #5

Now the face is modeled a bit more with venetian red which is an earthy color similar to indian red but not as opaque.

The color is again brought into the hair. The background has been darkened with a bluish green mixture. It will be darkened a few more times as I go. The shirt has been blocked in with cobalt blue and a touch of terre verte and will be modeled loosely to suggest shape but not too much detail.

Watercolor Portrait Demo #4

The features have been modeled a bit further using the watercolors very dryling now and blending well to avoid harsh lines in the portrait. I have added the background color which is a granular purple shade. I plan to darken it significantly as I go. I am continuing to add all of the flesh colors into the hair so that the hair looks more natural and has more depth.

Watercolor Portrait Demo #3

The hair and face were covered with a light layer of Naples Yellow and then the features of her face were further modeled further very carefully. Now I am adding layers of light red to give a bit of color to her skin and hair. The colors are a little off on this one as I had to use the scanner again and the board does not fit the greatest on it!

Watercolor Portrait Demo #2

The blue underpainting has been overpainted with a olive green mixture to comeplete the grisaille. It looks more brownish than I think it should at this stage, and even moreso online, but we will see how it goes! It does have a nice glow to it though and she is starting to look less one dimensional.

Watercolor Portrait Demo

I started this portrait prior to doing the last two cat portrait commissions and am now getting back to work on it. I am going to do it as a work in progress and it is my second attempt using the same drawing that I used for my first attempt using the grisaille method. I have transferred the drawing to the watercolor paper and have painted in the lights and darks using only blue. The full image would not fit on my scanner but you get the general idea.

Christmas Gift - Graphite & Charcoal Cat Portrait of Zak

Well I think Zak's portrait is complete! I will leave him overnight and may make minor tweaks. The scan does not show the graduations in tone as well as I would like. Some areas look a little choppy in the scan, but if gives the general idea. I think the dark background is throwing the balance off a bit for the scan.

Totally cool right side/ left side brain 'test'

I just saw this on Maggie's site and had to check it out. It is so cool, give it a try and see, no you don't have do do any math or think, it is not a 'test' like that ;)

Exploring Conte

I have been taking a bit of a break from commissions and have been exploring new mediums for the past month. Oddly enough, I have never tried conte or chalk in the past. I stumbled across an artist who does amazing portraits in both oils and conte and charcoal. Her name is Marina Dieul and you can see her work on her blog at http://marinadieul.blogspot.com/

She manages to capture such emotion and strength in her portraits and her conte and charcoal portraits only use a few colors to achieve a full range of tonal values. So as soon as I saw her work I ran out to the art store and purchased some conte and started playing. Well, for such a simple medium conte has such a huge range of tonal values and possibilities. Now, how to achieve these ranges, that is not so simple. I have been using similar methods that I use for my graphite and charcoal portraits and so far, am quite please with the results.

Combining the conte with vine charcoal produces a nice range of tonal values and, depending on how and when you combine them, different results can be achieved. Vine charcoal seems to produce the softest results which I prefer and depending on how it is blended (ie blending stumps, cloths, fingers etc.) a full range of blending can be achieved. I use the same methods for blending the conte and have been playing with several shades to achieve smooth transitions of color. The conte that Marina recommends is Carres which can be purchased at most art stores and has several colors to work with although I prefer to stick to a very limited palette of earth tones, especially while I am still trying to learn the medium. I will post some of my sample exercises and eventually a sketch or two once I am happy with the results. So far, I have just been doing basic blending/drawing exercises, spheres, lines and blending to get a feel for the medium.

1st Wedding Anniversary Graphite Portrait - wip4

I have done a few minor tweaks to her face but still much more is needed to achieve the resemblence. I will leave the faces for a bit though and work on the rest of the portrait to allow the graphite to settle in and so that the final details are crisp. I have drawn in the shape of her arm using B graphite pencil and will move onto her dress shortly.

1st Wedding Anniversary Graphite Portrait - wip3

S

till lots of tweaks to made to the bride as well but the main features have been blocked in. Several layers of H, B and HB graphite have been used to draw her skin and hair. The graphite pencil is then blended, features redrawn and blended again removing highlights where needed. Each pass further refines the features as the graphite absorbs into the paper. I will likely draw both of their faces to near completion and then move onto the rest of the portrait and then finish up with their faces again to keep the features crisp. As their faces are smaller than I generally work with I find that I am almost working in reverse for this portrait. Laying the features down and then removing excess graphite to refine their features more.

1st Wedding Anniversary Graphite Portrait - wip1

I have drawn in the rough details of Bret's face and am building and defining his features as I go. Many details are off at this point as I refine them as I go. His eyebrow and goatee have been set in but need adjusting as well. The actual faces are much smaller than I am used to drawing which is a bit of a challenge so I am using B graphite rather than 2B to keep the details more crisp. HB graphite pencil is used for the tighter details and both have been blended and reapplied many times to build up depth.

This is kind of the ugly stage of the portrait for me as many things are so off that they scream at me but by the next update things will be taking shape nicely :)

1st Wedding Anniversary Graphite Portrait

This is the graphite sketch for a commission that will be a gift for a first wedding anniversary. I was not able to capture all of the portrait with my scanner as it is 11x14 and my scanner...even though it says it scans A4...seems to not want to go larger than 8.5 x 11 argh, may be time for a new scanner ;)

I have transferred the drawing onto the watercolor paper and have darkened the outline of the bride and groom with HB graphite pencil. The background is hard to see right now but is sand and rocks with will be loosely drawn in.

Custom Graphite Portrait - wip 6

The eye's have finally been set in. They need to be strengthened a bit but the general shape has been established. I have also further defined several areas on her face, lips and nose and will continue to do so as the portrait progresses.

Custom Graphite Portrait - wip 2

Several more layers of graphite have been drawn for the skin as well as for the blanket and pillow case. I add the pencil layers lightly and build up as the portrait progresses so no area is completely finished until the end. This way the overall tone of the portrait can be judged better.

I will likely start adding layers for the hair next. Her hair is different colors in the reference photos due to highlights but I think I will go with her hair natural which is a dark black. I think it suites this portrait better and will create more depth and interest as the bedding will be on the light side.

Custom Graphite Portrait - sketch

This is the sketch for a custom graphite portrait I have just started. It is a very rough outline at this point as I am working from several reference photos. The quality of the photos are poor so it is a bit of a challenge but the concept is quite cool and the main reference photo has great lights and darks and she has such a sweet smile that even at this very rough stage she brightens up my canvas.

I am still working out how the hair will fall, how the eyes will look as in the reference photo the eyes are open and some other details need to be addressed but they will sort themselves out as I go. The words Happiness, Peace, Comfort, Understanding and Beauty will be slightly hidden throughout the portrait as well which will be very cool. I will wait until the portrait takes a bit more shape before I decide where each word will be drawn.

Baby Girl's First Birthday Graphite Portrait - WIP6

I just did a few minor tweaks and drew this cutie's eyelashes and brows. I still need to even out a few of the highlights but want to let the graphite settle into the paper a bit first.

I will leave the portrait for a day to get a bit of distance and then make the final tweaks as needed but she is pretty much completed. Again, online the transition between the lights and darks can be a little harsh looking but in the real portrait they are quite subtle but still provide contrast to capture her character.

Baby Girl's First Birthday Graphite Portrait - WIP4

Well, she looks much better with 2 eyes! More layers have been drawn using a 2B graphite pencil for her skin. Her hair has been drawn with 2B, B, HB, F and 3H graphite pencils, blending as I go and adding some of the highlights.

For her eyes, I used 2B, HB and 3H graphite pencils to draw the iris. The pupil was drawn with 2B and HB only being careful not to add too much of a shine to the paper. I like to bring all of the different areas of the face to near completion and then hone in on the details so no area is complete until the end of the portrait. It is really starting to look like this cute little baby girl though I think :)

Baby Girl's First Birthday Graphite Portrait - WIP3

Just a quick update! I have drawn many many more layers of 2B, HB and F graphite pencils. Just slowly building up the layers of the graphite portrait of this cutie!

Baby Girl's First Birthday Graphite Portrait - WIP2

I have drawn a bit more skin tone values throughout using 2B and H graphite pencils. The lips have been drawn using 2B, B, HB and H graphite pencils. The teeth will be finished last and the lips still need some adjustments which will be done nearer the end of the portrait. I tend to jump around the portrait a bit when I draw as I like to let the graphite settle into the paper.

Completed 1st Anniversary Graphite Portrait

I will make minor tweaks but the anniversary portrait is pretty much complete. His hair needs a bit more work to add a bit more depth. I still need to clean up the smudges of course. I like to leave the completed portrait for awhile to get a bit of distance before giving it a final once over and making any adjustments if necessary.

The image with the hands showing is taken with my digital camera as my scanner is not large enough to capture the full image. Thought I would upload the final scanned image as well for consistency.

Anniversary Graphite Portrait - WIP #7

Several more layers of 2B and H graphite pencil have been added and blended for the hair. I will leave the hair for now so the graphite has time to settle into the paper and come back to it to add more depth.

The shirt and the tie have been nearly completed so I will now start on tweaking the facial features first to the groom and then to the bride until I am happy with the resemblence for their portrait.

Anniversary Graphite Portrait - WIP #5

The drawing process is the same for the groom, just adding the skin tone in layers using mostly 2B and HB graphite pencils and blending to build up the layers and hone the features of his portrait.

It looks pretty rough right now as there are many areas in different stages of completness, next update should look more cohesive.

Anniversary Graphite Portrait - WIP #3

Many more layers of 2B graphite pencil have been added to the portrait. Several areas need to be tweaked but she is starting to take shape. I have drawn in the hairline a bit more but will leave the rest of her hair until later.

At this stage of the drawing I am more concerned with building up the layers of tone with the graphite. I then continue to move the graphite around to add depth and capture the personality and character of the bride.

Anniversary Graphite Portrait - WIP #2

Many more layers of 2B graphite have been lightly added to build up the tones in the bride's face. The eyelashes and brows have been roughly marked in with a HB graphite pencil and will be finalized at the end to keep them looking crisp as will the wispy hairline.

The stage of the portrait always looks odd as the building process needs to be done slowly and in many layers so some areas are more developed than others. The skin tone looks a little grainy in the scan due to the dark hair but is actually very smooth looking on the real portrait.

Anniversary Graphite Portrait - WIP #2

Several layers of graphite have been added and blended using 2B and H graphite pencils to create the bride's.

I have gone back into areas, removed highlights and then added more layers to create depth in her hair. I still need to add more of the detail to her hair and the wisps framing her face but I will leave those to nearer completion as I want them to be crisp.

I added a very light layer of skin tone using 2B graphite pencil and blended lightly. Many more layers to come! The scan does not pick the skin up well at this point because the contrast between the hair and the skin is so great. Next update her portrait should look better!

Anniversary Graphite Portrait - Initial Sketch

This is the initial sketch for the portrait. I darkened the scanned image in photoshop as the actual lines are quite light. I tried to add a fair bit of detail this time at this stage as a bit of a 'road map'. I used an HB graphite pencil for this stage as it blends in easily so that the lines will not be visible later.

Graphite Dog Portrait of a Weimaraner

The dog portrait is complete! The detail on his face and ears has been added to add texture and depth. The body has been left smooth with less detail to allow it to appear further away from the viewer.

Using grids for proportions tutorial

I was taught to use the grid method in elementary school and was amazed at how simple it was to use. Unfortunately, I was under the impression that using a grid was 'cheating' so I never used it again. Years later I went to an exhibit of Vincent van Gogh and was astonished to see that he and many other masters used the grid method! Well that was good enough for me!

I decided to give the method another try. I drew grid lines, 1 inch apart, with a permanent marker onto an sheet of acetate film. I blew up my reference photo to the size that I wanted and placed the acetate over top. I then drew grid lines with an F pencil onto my drawing surface. While this worked very well, I was spending too much time drawing and erasing the grid lines.

I now use the process below:

• I now blow up my image to a size that I am happy with and print it off.


• I then print a grid using 1 inch squares that I created in Photoshop (you can also use a word document for the grid) directly overtop of the printed image. You can use whatever grid size you like but I prefer a 1 inch by 1 inch grid.


• Then I print the same grid onto a piece of tracing paper and draw my initial sketch on the tracing paper.


• Once I am happy with my drawing I use a light box (ok, so I use my glass dining room table with a lamp underneath) and transfer the drawing to my drawing paper.


• If I have a hard time seeing the lines, I will go over them with a black felt pen.

This may seem like a bit of work, but if you have ever used the traditional grid method only to be dismayed by grid lines showing through on your final drawing, the work seems minimal in the long run. Also, I found that drawing my grid lines manually often led to slight discrepancies between the grid on the picture and on my drawing. Small discrepencies turn into big discrepancies when you are working on a portrait!

Graphite & Charcoal Materials Tutorial

Drawing Surface
My favorite drawing surfaces are smooth or medium bristol board and arches hot pressed watercolor paper. The watercolor paper provides more tooth for the graphite and charcoal to settle into.

Pencils
Any artist grade pencils will do. Experiment to find a brand that you feel comfortable with. I generally use F for the initial drawing as it erases easily without too much damage to the paper. I also like to use mechanical pencils as well as regular pencils as they maintain their shape well.

Charcoal
Again any artist grade charcoal that you can find will work well. The degrees of hardness ranges from HB (hardest) to 3B (softest).

Erasers
I use mak tak as a kneaded eraser. You can buy it at any stationary store. It is used for tacking pictures to walls but it works perfectly for lifting graphite and/or charcoal from drawings and for erasing.

Blending Stumps
Soft paper felt with double pointed ends used for blending. If the point wears down you can use sand paper to repoint.

Tortillions
Soft rolled paper with pointed end used for blending

Chamois
For the smoothest blending and to lift off extra graphite or charcoal.
Tissue PaperFor a rougher blending effect and to lift off extra graphite