Tuesday, June 19, 2012

How to Paint a Portrait - Video



1. Wet the paper with clean water
2. Lay in the general pattern of light and dark shapes with a thin wash
3. Work thin to thick - thin wash to thick paint
4. Work light to dark - building the values and base colors with thin washes
5. Dry the wet layer - so you can paint on top
6. Get down with your paint for a while - pop the highlights, push the darks.
7. Peel the tape off - the funnest part!

I'm filling up Sketchbook 31 with a series of self portrait acrylic paint studies. I like to explore lots of different media and paper, and my new Kilamanjaro Watercolor Natural White Paintbook is just perfect for bashing about with paint!

Besides the paper itself, I like two things about this spiral bound watercolor pad. Number 1, it has paper fly sheets between each watercolor page. Number 2, it has a wide aspect ratio. Tall, in this case.

Below are a few self portraits from Sketchbook 31.



Acrylic paint self portrait studies by Graham Smith.

Paper: Kilamanjaro 140lb cold pressed watercolor paper.

Brush: 1 inch flat, #8 round nylon.

Color: Raw Sienna, Ultramarine blue, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Mars Black, Titanium White, I think one of them has Magenta, and there may be some Burnt Sienna in there somewhere, too.

Video: iPhone 4s, Stop Motion Recorder, iMovie.

Music: Moby - Extreme Ways - 18


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