Friday, October 11, 2013

Portrait Sketch of Francis: Tidied Up


I worked in some background and beefed up the tone and colour in this portrait sketch of Francis  that I did first as a demo at Kennedy Art.
Above all I wanted to emphasize that amazingly strong profile that Francis has, so I pushed the gray background colour right up close to his profile, leaving just enough of the dark underpainting to make a rough outline around his face.


I usually don't let my students use green paint at all in portrait workshops because it's very hard to manage when when used  to create shadowy skin tones. I prefer to just to use blues for those cooler notes.
In this case Francis had been wearing an Ireland jersey and all my students had painted the shirt in, so I thought I would too. It works well as a block of colour and serves as a useful counterpoint to the warmer hues in his face.

My next workshop at Kennedy's with spaces available is on the 30th November.

Contact Kennedy's if you'd like to come along. 
ph  + 353 (1) 475 1749
info@kennedyart.com