Portrait of the Artist's Father (Leonard-Sebastien Boudin)

approach — 8 steps

color palette

primary · burnt umber · yellow ochre · raw umber · titanium white

secondary · burnt sienna · cadmium yellow light · ivory black

Create flesh tones by mixing yellow ochre with white and small amounts of burnt sienna; darken with burnt umber rather than black to maintain warmth

techniques

• ·glazing for depth
• ·sfumato blending
• ·warm underpainting
• ·alla prima wet-into-wet
• ·impasto for highlights

common pitfalls

• →making shadows too cool
• →overworking facial features
• →losing overall value structure
• →making edges too sharp throughout