Portrait of Erin

Erin. Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm

Here’s a recent portrait in oils that marks a great step on for me in terms of speed and basic technique.

Unfortunately I had to work from photographs instead of life, however I spent a couple of hours with Erin during our photo session which I feel gave me a degree of insight that anonymous reference material would not have presented. I didn’t work strictly sight-size, but I set up my easel and photo next to each other, at a distance from where I stood, and I tried to work as closely as possible to how I would if I were working from life. For example, I used comparative measuring; I squinted to look for the big shapes, simplified tonal values and areas of focus; and most importantly I tried to overcome the inherent danger of photography where you get bogged down in detail.

I worked methodically and pretty quickly, trusting that each layer was a step to the next. Starting with a loose colour block-in, I worked to refine and build up the paint over a further 3 sessions (the last of these being largely faffing over small areas that I perhaps should have left alone for freshness). Anyway, it worked OK. It’s not perfect, but it is an improvement. I also stayed with a limited palette of Lead White, Yellow Ochre, Brown Red and Ivory Black – with a tiny bit of Cadmium Red Light in the lips and Raw Umber in the background and hair – which felt like an achievement too.

Something else I considered before starting was the general placement on the canvas, and where compositional lines could be utilised. To this end, I mapped out where strong diagonals and dividing lines based on the Golden Section could be found, and I tried to place (or add emphasis) to features that fell along these points. For example, the diagonal of the shoulder and neckline, the eyes/eyebrows. At the end of this post is a picture of an early block-in, as well as an illustration of these key compositional lines that I tried to work with.

Now on to the negative. There is something a little too saccharin in the pose for my taste, and I wish I could have found a deeper psychology and/or narrative to draw out (no pun intended). As it is, I see this portrait as more of a paint handling exercise than anything else. That’s not all bad as it’s technique that I am most concerned with at the moment. I must progress the storytelling of my art too however, so it does bother me a little. Finally I need to think about whether I leave this painting alone now, or make a couple of final refinements that could improve the features (namely widening the nose slightly, and adding a little to the jawline and neck in shadow). The risk is that a can of worms could open up in making these small changes and perhaps it’s best to leave it alone and get a new project underway. I think I should put it aside and look again in a month or so, making a decision then. Watch this space!

Tags: Composition, Limited Palette, Oil Painting, Portraiture