plate no. 2204
Portrait of a young woman
Giacomo Favretto, 1880
some experience helpful
Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in portraiture, including capturing likeness and rendering skin tones. It also provides practice in depicting fabric and loose, expressive brushwork.
technical profile
palette complexity
4
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, neck, and shoulders.
- step 02
Establish the background color with a thin wash of neutral tones.
- step 03
Block in the main areas of color for the skin, hair, and shawl, focusing on accurate values.
- step 04
Refine the facial features, paying close attention to the subtle shifts in skin tone.
- step 05
Add details to the hair, using short, broken brushstrokes to suggest texture.
- step 06
Develop the folds and patterns of the shawl, using a combination of thin washes and thicker impasto.
- step 07
Adjust the overall composition and values to create a sense of depth and realism.
- step 08
Add final highlights and details to complete the painting.
color palette
primary · titanium white · burnt umber · cadmium red light · ultramarine blue
secondary · yellow ochre · ivory black
Achieve skin tones by mixing white, red, umber, and a touch of blue. Use yellow ochre to warm the skin tones. Mix red and umber for the darker areas of the shawl. Use white and blue for the light areas of the shawl.
techniques
- ·portraiture
- ·color mixing
- ·blending
- ·scumbling
- ·impasto
common pitfalls
- →Overworking the skin tones and losing the freshness of the brushwork.
- →Failing to capture the subtle shifts in value and color.
- →Getting the proportions of the face wrong.
- →Making the shawl too detailed and distracting from the face.
materials
surface · stretched canvas
required
- ·stretched canvas
- ·titanium white oil paint
- ·burnt umber oil paint
- ·cadmium red light oil paint
- ·ultramarine blue oil paint
- ·yellow ochre oil paint
- ·ivory black oil paint
- ·assorted brushes (round and flat)
optional
- ·palette knife
- ·linseed oil
- ·turpentine
Use a medium-grain canvas for best results. Consider using a limited palette to simplify the color mixing process.
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