plate no. 8790

Portrait of a condottiere

panel, tempera, oilEarly Renaissanceportraitportraitmale figureclothinghatRenaissancehistorical

some experience helpful

Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in portraiture, including accurate proportions and subtle skin tone variations. It also provides practice in rendering complex fabric textures and patterns.

technical profile

palette complexity

brushwork visibility

value contrast

compositional simplicity

study guide

est. 20 hrs

approach — 8 steps

step 01
Lightly sketch the basic shapes and proportions of the head, shoulders, and hat.
step 02
Establish the background with a dark, muted color.
step 03
Block in the main skin tones, focusing on the light and shadow areas.
step 04
Begin layering and blending the skin tones to create smooth transitions.
step 05
Paint the hat, paying attention to its texture and folds.
step 06
Block in the base color of the clothing and then add the gold pattern.
step 07
Refine the details of the face, including the eyes, nose, and mouth.
step 08
Add final highlights and shadows to enhance the form and create depth.

color palette

primary · flesh tones (ochre, burnt sienna, white) · dark brown · gold

secondary · ultramarine blue · red · ivory black

Achieve the skin tones by mixing ochre, burnt sienna, and white, with small amounts of red and blue for subtle variations. The gold is achieved by layering yellows and browns, with highlights of pure yellow.

techniques

·glazing
·scumbling
·blending
·layering
·portraiture

common pitfalls

→Getting the proportions of the face wrong.
→Overworking the skin tones and losing the subtle variations.
→Making the gold pattern too flat and uniform.
→Failing to capture the likeness and expression of the subject.

materials

surface · stretched canvas

required

·stretched canvas
·oil paints (ochre, burnt sienna, titanium white, ultramarine blue, red, ivory black, yellow)
·linseed oil
·turpentine
·assorted brushes (small round, small flat)
·palette
·palette knife