plate no. 8387

A moment's rest

oilPost-Impressionismgenre paintingfiguremanchairbeardclothingportrait

some experience helpful

Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in portraiture, capturing realistic skin tones, and using visible brushstrokes to create texture and form. It also offers practice in depicting clothing folds and the structure of a wooden chair.

technical profile

palette complexity

brushwork visibility

value contrast

compositional simplicity

study guide

est. 12 hrs

approach — 8 steps

step 01
Sketch the basic shapes and proportions of the figure and chair using light pencil lines.
step 02
Establish the overall value structure by blocking in the main areas of light and shadow with thin washes of color.
step 03
Begin building up the skin tones, mixing a range of browns, reds, and yellows, and applying them with short, broken brushstrokes.
step 04
Define the details of the face, paying attention to the subtle variations in color and value.
step 05
Paint the clothing, using darker values to create shadows and lighter values to highlight the folds and creases.
step 06
Render the chair, focusing on the texture of the wood and the way the light interacts with its surface.
step 07
Add the background, keeping it simple and slightly out of focus to emphasize the figure.
step 08
Refine the details and adjust the values as needed to create a cohesive and expressive painting.

color palette

primary · burnt umber · raw sienna · titanium white

secondary · ultramarine blue · cadmium red light · yellow ochre

Achieve skin tones by mixing burnt umber, raw sienna, titanium white, and small amounts of cadmium red light and yellow ochre. Use ultramarine blue and burnt umber to create dark shadows in the clothing and chair.

techniques

·broken brushstrokes
·color mixing
·value studies
·layering
·scumbling

common pitfalls

→over-blending skin tones
→losing the structure of the chair
→ignoring subtle value changes
→getting proportions wrong

materials

surface · stretched canvas

required

·stretched canvas 16x20
·oil paints (burnt umber, raw sienna, titanium white, ultramarine blue, cadmium red light, yellow ochre)
·palette
·palette knife
·assorted brushes (round and flat)
·linseed oil
·turpentine or odorless mineral spirits
·rags