plate no. 2932

Portrait of a young woman with a tray

Karl Gussow, 1904

oil, canvasRealismportraitportraitwomanfiguretraysilverwareclothing

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 creating soft, diffused lighting and depicting reflective surfaces.

technical profile

palette complexity

brushwork visibility

value contrast

compositional simplicity

study guide

est. 15 hrs

approach — 8 steps

step 01
Sketch the basic shapes and proportions of the figure, tray, and teapot.
step 02
Establish the overall warm background tone with a thin wash of color.
step 03
Block in the main areas of color for the skin, hair, clothing, and tray.
step 04
Begin refining the skin tones, focusing on subtle shifts in value and color temperature.
step 05
Develop the details of the hair, paying attention to the direction of the light.
step 06
Work on the clothing, capturing the folds and shadows.
step 07
Paint the tray and teapot, focusing on the highlights and reflections.
step 08
Add final details and adjust values as needed to create a cohesive and realistic portrait.

color palette

primary · burnt umber · raw sienna · titanium white · cadmium red

secondary · ivory black · yellow ochre · ultramarine blue

Achieve skin tones by mixing white with small amounts of red, yellow ochre, and burnt umber. Use black and white to create shades of grey for the silver tray and teapot.

techniques

·portrait painting
·underpainting
·glazing
·blending
·value study

common pitfalls

→Overmixing colors, resulting in muddy tones.
→Neglecting the importance of accurate proportions.
→Failing to capture the subtle shifts in value and color temperature in the skin.
→Ignoring the reflective properties of the metal objects.

materials

surface · stretched canvas

required

·stretched canvas
·oil paints (burnt umber, raw sienna, titanium white, cadmium red, ivory black, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue)
·palette
·palette knife
·linseed oil
·odorless mineral spirits
·assorted brushes (round and flat)
·rags