plate no. 6890

Portrait of a Man

oil, woodNorthern Renaissanceportraitportraitmanheadwearclothingfacerenaissance

some experience helpful

Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in portraiture, including accurate proportions and subtle value transitions to create form. It also provides practice in rendering fabric and capturing a likeness.

technical profile

palette complexity

brushwork visibility

value contrast

compositional simplicity

study guide

est. 15 hrs

approach — 8 steps

step 01
Prepare a toned canvas with a warm underpainting.
step 02
Sketch the basic shapes and proportions of the head, turban, and clothing.
step 03
Block in the main areas of color, starting with the background and then the skin tones.
step 04
Begin layering and blending the skin tones, paying close attention to the subtle shifts in value.
step 05
Develop the form of the turban, using highlights and shadows to create the folds and texture.
step 06
Refine the details of the face, including the eyes, nose, and mouth.
step 07
Add details to the clothing, such as the collar and any visible folds.
step 08
Glaze with thin layers to unify the colors and add depth.

color palette

primary · flesh tone · red · dark brown

secondary · ivory black · raw umber · yellow ochre

Achieve the flesh tones by mixing white, yellow ochre, and a touch of red. The red of the turban can be modified with small amounts of brown or black to create shadows.

techniques

·portraiture
·glazing
·blending
·chiaroscuro
·layering

common pitfalls

→Getting the proportions of the face wrong.
→Overblending the skin tones, resulting in a flat appearance.
→Failing to capture the subtle value shifts in the turban.
→Using colors that are too saturated.

materials

surface · stretched canvas

required

·Stretched canvas
·Oil paints: titanium white, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, raw umber, ivory black, cadmium red
·Palette
·Assorted brushes (round and flat)
·Linseed oil
·Odorless mineral spirits
·Palette knife