plate no. 6835
Portrait of a boy
some experience helpful
Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in portraiture, including capturing likeness and rendering form with subtle value changes. It also provides practice in depicting textures like hair and fabric with visible brushstrokes.
technical profile
palette complexity
3
brushwork visibility
4
value contrast
3
compositional simplicity
4
study guide
est. 12 hrsapproach — 8 steps
- step 01
Lightly sketch the basic shapes and proportions of the head, hat, and shoulders.
- step 02
Establish the background tone with a thin wash of neutral color.
- step 03
Block in the main areas of color: skin tones, hat, hair, and clothing.
- step 04
Refine the facial features, paying close attention to the light and shadow on the nose, lips, and eyes.
- step 05
Add details to the hair, using short, broken brushstrokes to create texture.
- step 06
Develop the folds and shadows in the clothing.
- step 07
Adjust the values and colors throughout the painting to create a sense of depth and realism.
- step 08
Add final highlights and details.
color palette
primary · raw umber · burnt sienna · titanium white
secondary · cadmium red · ivory black
Mix skin tones by blending raw umber, burnt sienna, and titanium white. Use ivory black to darken values and create shadows. Mix cadmium red with burnt sienna and raw umber to create the red of the jacket.
techniques
- ·portrait sketching
- ·value studies
- ·broken color
- ·dry brushing
- ·scumbling
common pitfalls
- →Getting the proportions of the face wrong.
- →Overworking the details and losing the overall impression.
- →Making the skin tones too flat and lifeless.
- →Not capturing the texture of the hair and clothing.
materials
surface · stretched canvas
required
- ·stretched canvas 12x16
- ·raw umber oil paint
- ·burnt sienna oil paint
- ·titanium white oil paint
- ·cadmium red oil paint
- ·ivory black oil paint
- ·#4 round brush
- ·#6 filbert brush
optional
- ·palette knife
- ·linseed oil
- ·odorless mineral spirits
Use a medium-grain canvas for best results. Consider using a limited palette to simplify the color mixing process.
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