Today I did a demo in preparation for a portrait painting class I’ll be teaching in Santa Rosa. (Four Thursdays, 10/23-11/13, click here if you’re interested). I came home totally fired up! I LOVE teaching.
What I did today was show the audience how I paint in layers. Normally, it’s a multi-stage process over 4-5 sessions; but today, I distilled it into two hours, utilizing the lessons I’ve learned from decades of research and practice. Some of it came directly from teachers along the way; most of it was what I figured out through trial and error. I try to explain it as simply and clearly as possible.
First layer, focusing on values and creating dimensionality
First, I start with the grey layer. Or grisaille, if you’re being fancy. All representation art tells the story of light. How light falls across an object defines that object for the viewer. I spend a good amount of time explaining how it works, until I can see peoples’ expressions soften with new understanding. They finally understand values—which took me forever, until I created this approach.
When I teach, I have students do a second grey layer to correct features. But this time, I’d painted the first couple of layers ahead of time so I could jump into color.
Layer 2, which I did as a separate painting earlier in the week
I focus most of my attention on the light side. The shadow side stays vague and simple; the details go into the side where light is illuminating form. It’s also where I put most of the paint. The buildup creates a physical skin on the canvas that increases the illusion of dimensionality.
There are many fun tricks that are easy to learn and that make the likeness more convincing. I pack as many as I can into every class. Cool light = warm shadows. Only use white on the light side. Transparent oxide red by Rembrandt is my secret weapon. Mix it with ultramarine blue and you have the richest black ever. Etc., etc.
Layer 3, which I didn't have time to "finish," but I took it as far as I could.
Afterwards, the students told me they got a lot out of the demo. Not as much as I did! Somehow, teaching both drains and fills me at the same time. I love seeing the aha’s appear in people’s eyes.
Feel free to hit me with any questions! I'm always happy to help.
With Love and Light,
Maggie
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