My latest commission is a portrait for Christmas and it's a surprise, so if you have stumbled upon my blog and you know this gentleman, shhhhh!! The size is 12 x 16" on primed artboard and after sketching the basic outline I started painting the shadows in paynes grey and burnt umber. Next I roughly painted in his shirt, jumper and hair. I used up the remainder of the blue paint as a wash for the background before building up warmer shadows on his face and used a small brush to add a base colour to his eyes. From there I have started to apply the many glazes required to build up a translucent skin tone so for now he looks quite tanned and his laughter lines and shadows are well pronounced. I'm quite pleased with the first few stages - keep watching to see it progress!
