excerpt from Classic Portrait Painting in Oils by Chris Saper
excerpt from Classic Portrait Painting in Oils by Chris Saper excerpt from Classic Portrait Painting in Oils by Chris Saper
3 Paint the Found Edges of the Frames in One Stroke 4 Create the Shadow Under the FrameWet the canvas with a little medium and paint the found edge Turn the canvas right-side up, and use a small, clean comb brush, wetof the frames in a single gliding stroke with a small cat’s tongue very slightly with medium, to pull the stroke downward in the directionbrush using a bit of Transparent Earth Red + Flesh. Actually, you’ll of the form of the cheek. Again, one stroke is all you need.be finding the edge of the skin it touches, not the edge of theframe itself. If the found edge you paint in one stroke is wrong,you’ll need to take the skin tones back to the previous step. If youprefer to paint wet-into-wet, lay more fresh paint over the mistakenstroke. If the tones are dry, it’s much easier to wipe off the errantline. Don’t fight the natural arc of your hand; as a right-handedpainter, my natural arc runs from about 7:00 to 11:00, so I turnedthe painting on its side for just that one stroke. Lefties may have aneasier time turning the canvas upside down.5 Finalize the EyeglassesThe only parts of the eyeglasses thatare actually painted are the hinge, theearpiece and the highlights. Everythingelse is suggested by illusion—the paintingof negative shapes created by light andshadow.54 Watch a free video lesson by Chris Saper at artistsnetwork.com/portrait-painting48-57_Y1754.indd 5410/12/11 11:50:11 AM
Examples of EyeglassesFull-Frame Glasses, Older StyleThis is an older photograph of the subject in the exercise onpainting glasses. The darker, larger or more colorful the framestyle, the more it will compete with the face for the portrait’sfocal point. The challenge here is to keep as much of the frameas close as possible to the value and hue of the skin tones.Wire-Rim GlassesIn this monochrome oil, the eyeglasses are far more abbreviated.A two-hour session doesn’t provide enough time to fussover details, and in some ways that’s better. These glasses werepainted with just twelve tiny strokes. The highlight on the lens ismuch bolder than the highlights in the eyes.Rimless GlassesI painted this self-portrait life study from a mirror. The difficultyis that I am very nearsighted, so my eyes look much smallerwhen I’m wearing glasses. I first painted the entire study withoutglasses, then added them later. I gave up a bit of likeness inexchange for emphasizing the eyes.A CASE AGAINST PAINTING EYEGLASSESI generally prefer to paint subjects without glasses for a couple of reasons.First, like fashion, styles of eyeglasses change over the years and can datethe portrait and diminish its timeless quality. Second, the eyes may appeardistorted because of prescription lenses—very nearsighted subjects’ eyeswill appear much smaller, and very farsighted subjects’ eyes will appearmuch larger. Try photographing your subject both with and without glassesso you’ll have an undistorted image of the eyes as well as an idea of howthe glasses sit on the face. In a half-fi gure or larger portrait, consider havingyour subject hold his glasses. You might fi nd that the eyeglasses areso much a part of an individual’s appearance that it’s best to paint themon the face.Visit artistsnetwork.com/portrait-painting for a free demonstration on painting a vignette5548-57_Y1754.indd 5510/12/11 11:50:17 AM
- Page 1 and 2: presentspaintingeyes & eyeglassesin
- Page 3 and 4: 3 Place the HighlightsIt’s always
- Page 8: Ideas. Instruction. Inspiration.Rec
Examples of EyeglassesFull-Frame Glasses, Older StyleThis is an older photograph of the subject <strong>in</strong> the exercise onpa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g glasses. The darker, larger or more colorful the framestyle, the more it will compete with the face for the portrait’sfocal po<strong>in</strong>t. The challenge here is to keep as much of the frameas close as possible to the value and hue of the sk<strong>in</strong> tones.Wire-Rim GlassesIn this monochrome oil, the eyeglasses are far more abbreviated.A two-hour session doesn’t provide enough time to fussover details, and <strong>in</strong> some ways that’s better. These glasses werepa<strong>in</strong>ted with just twelve t<strong>in</strong>y strokes. The highlight on the lens ismuch bolder than the highlights <strong>in</strong> the eyes.Rimless GlassesI pa<strong>in</strong>ted this self-portrait life study <strong>from</strong> a mirror. The difficultyis that I am very nearsighted, so my eyes look much smallerwhen I’m wear<strong>in</strong>g glasses. I first pa<strong>in</strong>ted the entire study withoutglasses, then added them later. I gave up a bit of likeness <strong>in</strong>exchange for emphasiz<strong>in</strong>g the eyes.A CASE AGAINST PAINTING EYEGLASSESI generally prefer to pa<strong>in</strong>t subjects without glasses for a couple of reasons.First, like fashion, styles of eyeglasses change over the years and can datethe portrait and dim<strong>in</strong>ish its timeless quality. Second, the eyes may appeardistorted because of prescription lenses—very nearsighted subjects’ eyeswill appear much smaller, and very farsighted subjects’ eyes will appearmuch larger. Try photograph<strong>in</strong>g your subject both with and without glassesso you’ll have an undistorted image of the eyes as well as an idea of howthe glasses sit on the face. In a half-fi gure or larger portrait, consider hav<strong>in</strong>gyour subject hold his glasses. You might fi nd that the eyeglasses areso much a part of an <strong>in</strong>dividual’s appearance that it’s best to pa<strong>in</strong>t themon the face.Visit artistsnetwork.com/portrait-pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g for a free demonstration on pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g a vignette5548-57_Y1754.<strong>in</strong>dd 5510/12/11 11:50:17 AM
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