Here’s the progression of a portrait of Suzy and me on the occasion of our 26th wedding anniversary. It’s a small work and was completed in three sessions, each 1-3 hours long. I probably could have completed the painting in two sessions and with a smaller palette but I ended up fussing over it a bit.
Oil on wooden panel. Panel was sized with Gamblin PVA Size, two coats of acrylic “gesso,” one coat of Gamblin Oil Primer. Ground was then toned with a mixture of Raw Umber and Flake White. Embedded cat hairs were totally intentional! I would have used elephant dung if it had been handy.
Palette and Supplies:
Sketch in Pencil. You can see that it’s kind of a crude panel. I primed an architectural sample that Suzy’s office was discarding. The painting is on the back of the panel, the other side is polished maple. You can see some dings on the edges of the panel and some cat hair embedded in the gesso over my forehead.
Next I painted the first layer of the background in Indian Red so that values and colors of the subjects can be seen in relationship.
A mixture of burnt sienna and dark umber was then applied chiaroscura style to establish the values. Some of the lines were set with quinacridone violet or mars black.
I like to do the eyes and lips before getting too far into the portrait. This way my subjects are “looking out at me” and I find it easier to connect with the subject and the emotion in their face. If I don’t form a connection, the portrait usually falls flat. I added some detail to the clothing and a glaze of quinacridone red over the Indian red background. This was a short session, about an hour. I didn’t have the time to do much more that day and I needed to let the paint dry before proceeding.
So here’s where I pulled everything together. I should have taken another progress photo, but got too involved. Painted the faces and clothing alla prima from dark to light and added highlights. I then glazed some transparent tones over the skin, reflecting the colors of the clothing. Some quinacridone violet and phthalo blue were glazed over the background to darken it a bit and make it a bit more complex.
I tend to work fairly quickly and don’t get too hung up on details, which could be a bit more precise. I guess I’m impatient … and I’m not sure if that helps or hurts my paintings. On the one hand they are more gestural and “painterly.” But on the other hand, when I look at them, they seem a bit unfinished and even careless. I’m going to have to pick a subject one of these days that forces me to pay attention to the details. I also think that my value range is a bit narrow. There should be darker darks and lighter lights.
“26 years” (2015). Louis Cooper. Oil on Panel. 12″ x 12″.
Wow, love that. Are you opening your gallery ?
I’m flattered that you should ask Arlette. I have not shown any of my paintings — not yet, anyway. I’m still enjoying the freedom that comes with total obscurity.