Kelly

Mischa Milosevic · 04-03-2007, 11:38 AM

Shadow, light and hue acordingly

Dan Landrie · 04-04-2007, 07:34 PM

Thank you Enzie and Mischa,

First I appreciate your help.

I can see from your comments that I have a long uphill battle in front of me if I'm going to get my oil portraits to a point were I can comfortably accept money for them. I think my next step will be to concentrate on just sitting down and mixing colors in various values and temperatures as you suggested Enzie. If anyone would like to recommend a good color mixing book they think would be helpful I would appreciate it.

Alexandra Tyng · 04-08-2007, 12:13 AM

Dan,

I would not assume that the value relationships in your painted portrait are as "incorrect" as they appear to be when you compare them to those in the photo. I've done color sketches of people from life, then taken a photo, and the photo looks quite different.

My advice would be to try to work the life study up to a point where you consider it just about finished, then only use the photo to "finish" the non-essential details and/or make a few minor adjustments. It is probably not going to be helpful to simply start a portrait from life and switch to a photo at this stage. You will get such different information from the photo that you basically have to start over.

I think Mischa's advice about looking for the large areas of light and shadow first, then working towards smaller areas of color within those larger areas, is excellent. It appears that you are rushing into the small areas before you have established the value relationships in larger areas. A good example of this is in the eye area. The entire eye socket is in shadow. The best way to approach the eyes is to paint the shadow (as in post # 8) and then start looking for variations within it. You make a "bed' for the eye and then the eye just falls into place. The value range within the shadow of the eye socket is really very small--whereas in your portrait you have made the irises bright, light blue as if in direct light.

Don't be too discouraged. You are well on your way to achieving the proper value relationships. Rather than relying on books, the best way is to try different mixtures and see what looks better. Achieving transparent shadow areas is not easy. Many color mixtures make mud! I have had success mixing blues and violets with cadmium yellow deep and cadmium orange, which greys the color (using complementaries) and also adds warmth and coolness to shadows. These can be mixed in with a rosy tone like cad red, or permanent rose, to achieve a good skin tone. But that's only one way--there are countless others.

Dan Landrie · 04-08-2007, 05:55 PM

Your absolutely right in that the photo is not in any way equal to the colors from the live model.

It appears that Mischa and Sargent went to the same school when it comes to their approach to the portrait. Your advice on painting the eyes is going to be very helpful. The reason the eyes are so light at this stage is that I like to paint in the highlight color first and then glaze in the darker areas as I think it gives more life to the eyes.

Thank you so much for the mixing suggestions this is an area that I've become very interested in since joining this site.

Thank you again Alexandra for taking the time to instruct and encourage me.

Mischa Milosevic · 04-09-2007, 06:22 AM

Dan, I am glad that you do not find the advice overwhelming. One of my mistakes, that I do my best to correct, is to rush to the finish, the likeness. When ever I rush I find I must go back to the previous step. I am so glad that oil is so forgiving. The "Master" of old are our teachers and it does take time to understand what it is they wish to teach us.

Painting for me is as is sculpture to Michelangelo. It took me some time to learn that He did not chip the eye out before he established the landmarks where the eye sits. I hope this helps.