Portrait of Edward Hicks of Lymington, Hampshire, seated at a drum table in his library

approach — 8 steps

color palette

primary · ivory black · raw umber · burnt sienna · titanium white

secondary · cadmium red · yellow ochre · cerulean blue

Mix various shades of brown and gray by combining raw umber, burnt sienna, and ivory black with white. Use small amounts of cadmium red and yellow ochre to warm up the skin tones and add subtle color variations.

techniques

• ·portraiture
• ·glazing
• ·color mixing
• ·rendering textures
• ·atmospheric perspective

common pitfalls

• →Getting the proportions wrong in the initial sketch.
• →Overworking the details and losing the overall sense of light and atmosphere.
• →Using colors that are too saturated or unrealistic.
• →Failing to create a sense of depth and dimension.
• →Inaccurate skin tone mixing.