Palette knife portrait

It’s always good to try something different. Not saying my subject is anything other than my usual thing, but, of course I am talking about the use of palette knife in this one as opposed to brushes.

This was really enjoyable, forcing the paint on in slabs and playing around as if icing a cake. Mary from Tuesday group brought in the picture of her granddaughter. Great colours caught my eye straight away so it was an easy choice to tackle an oil portrait.

Colours had to be mixed right first time to apply opaquely with as  little adjustment as possible. all the tones and shades have to be kept pretty much separate to keep the painting clean. Mix the paint on the palette thoroughly, scrape it up and bang.. on to the canvas. I got a bit fiddly at the end, admittedly, but I am still attached to the likeness. Not ready to let that go quite yet.

oil on canvas 8″ x 8″

Progress with portrait of Sandy

It’s the final and definitive version of Sandy. After using his image for all the demos and workshops, I now get down to the business of the large oil portrait.

I took quite a while getting the face right, the mouth in particular. It’s nearly done but needs another look later on. I don’t like moving on to other parts of the canvas until I can relax about the likeness. My aim is to quickly fill the other areas with vigorous strokes; the way I have started the jumper. I can layer up if needed, but I hope to get these bits right first time. The hands will be tighter, like the face. He is sitting by a door on the right so there is a strong light hitting the face and the hair on the right side.