plate no. 1168
Cossack with red shirt
Vasily Surikov, 1901
some experience helpful
Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in portrait painting, including capturing likeness and rendering form with visible brushstrokes. It also provides practice in mixing skin tones and creating a sense of depth through value changes.
technical profile
palette complexity
3
brushwork visibility
4
value contrast
3
compositional simplicity
4
study guide
est. 8 hrsapproach — 8 steps
- step 01
Lightly sketch the basic shapes and proportions of the head, shoulders, and necklace.
- step 02
Block in the main areas of color: skin tones, red shirt, hair, and background.
- step 03
Start refining the skin tones, paying attention to highlights and shadows.
- step 04
Develop the details of the hair, using short, broken brushstrokes.
- step 05
Work on the red shirt, capturing the folds and variations in color.
- step 06
Add the details of the necklace and cross.
- step 07
Adjust the background to create a sense of depth.
- step 08
Add final highlights and shadows to enhance the form.
color palette
primary · burnt umber · titanium white · cadmium red
secondary · yellow ochre · ivory black
Skin tones are achieved by mixing burnt umber, white, and small amounts of red and yellow ochre. The red shirt is a mix of cadmium red and burnt umber, lightened with white.
techniques
- ·alla prima
- ·broken color
- ·scumbling
- ·dry brushing
- ·portraiture
common pitfalls
- →Getting the proportions of the face wrong.
- →Overworking the skin tones and losing the freshness of the brushstrokes.
- →Failing to capture the subtle variations in color.
- →Making the background too distracting.
materials
surface · stretched canvas
required
- ·stretched canvas
- ·burnt umber oil paint
- ·titanium white oil paint
- ·cadmium red oil paint
- ·yellow ochre oil paint
- ·ivory black oil paint
- ·round brushes (sizes 2, 4, 6)
- ·palette
optional
- ·palette knife
- ·linseed oil
- ·odorless mineral spirits
Use a medium-textured canvas to allow for visible brushstrokes. Consider using a limited palette to simplify the color mixing process.
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