Painting A Portrait (1958)

[Music] Jois deal who posed for me and drawing a portrait has now consented to sit while I put in the color and shading the first drawing was done with India ink for easy viewing we now replace it with a drawing on watercolor paper using pale pencil lines that will not show through the lighter washes while there are dozens of mediums of varying permanency from egg or polymer tempera to pastel or casein I have chosen transparent watercolor as both permanent and responsive in picking up a color I shall move the brush sideways across the palette to avoid lumps of paint the phorid is a good starting point since it is usually a simple geometric shape a cylinder or a dome the color often in the range of orange or red can be tried out here as there are cool highlights on the light side I shall leave the paper white this highlight is a reflection of the window on the damp skin when the blood is forced near the surface by bone or cartilage skin seems a little redder the lips - even without the aid of cosmetic will be red as well as the cheekbones but not so the cleft in the upper lip notice the darkness of these colors now and remember to check them later since water color fades as it dries it should seem too dark while it is wet the nose for instance is dark now but after it dries we'll have more the look of skin while the forehead was treated as a cylinder the eye is a golf ball in the head to inscribe the lids and iris on a flat surface would be wrong this is the kind of brush stroke I would use to paint an actual ball the double loaded brush has more paint on one side than the other if I now use this same technique on the actual eye the upper lid cornea and lower lid will come out properly lighted a double loaded brush makes a stroke that has a hard edge on one side and a soft one on the other this stroke has many uses I employ it for such details as the cheek behind the nostril or the corner of the mouth having now brought out the planes of the light side of the face we start on the shadow side with what courage we may it is difficult here to make the paint dark enough since paint always fades as it dries if it looks right it's wrong the green color that I use has two purposes first to neutralize or gray the red and orange which if put on solidly would result in a lobster like quality secondly it takes care of any reflected light from the green wall to our right only a few details may show through this dark shadow such as the red color on the chin or the shadow side of the eye to prevent the hair from looking like a wig or a cloth cap I must show that it casts a shadow on the skin and blends with it artists call this a lost-and-found edge for the darkest parts of the hair I use black with a little alizarin crimson it is a mistake to use black or to darker color on the eyelids to do so gives a look of mascara or of the movie makeup of the 1920s I'm using orange and sepia both for the lids and the wrinkles above them since light illuminates the skin as it shines through the eyebrows they may be lighter on the left and darker where the hairs cast shadows after making both sides dark I clean and dry the brush so that it becomes a tool for taking off paint the dark side of the face was partly dry before I had had a chance to paint the shadow side of the nostril and the dock crease under the lower lip the same reflected light that illuminates the dark side of the face gives the hair a raw umber color a large brush if carefully used makes us clean an edge as a small one for the dark recesses of the hair I again used black with a little alizarin crimson to warm it even in a blond the shadows will be dark Joyce has hazel or green eyes but whatever color eyes maybe they are glossy so any highlights such as I am leaving will have sharp contrasts I shall put in the pupils with black later when the iris is dry for the tear ducts ear holes or lips wear thin skin or mucous membrane let's the color of the blood show the million or cadmium red light may be used none of these prescriptions however is standard as each sitter is a new case in contrast to the forehead the iris is illuminated like a bowl rather than a ball so it seems to be lighted on the side away from the source of light not only will it be a dark mark to show the crease or dimple in the cheek but the upper lip needs an accent on the light side and on the dark one as well for white materials like the blouse I could use color or unpainted paper as I am now doing I take blue for the part in shadow that faces outwards as the folds that face away from the light towards the wall or the neck will of course have reflected light I am introducing yellow into the blue shadows and at the same time wiping away some of the paint to make it lighter while features and planes in a portrait must resemble a sitter if the painting is to characterize a person with the clothes or background we may take some liberties in the interests of good design if a run our blot appears it should be quickly removed before it stains the paper wipe the brush dry for this lost-and-found edges may emphasize or understate any area against another all the background may be used to repeat or echo a color found elsewhere in the picture it may be made darker near light parts of the face or hair in order to key them and bring out the illumination of the subject not all skin is the same hue each race offers a wide variety the blouse will cast a shadow here on the chest and on the other side as well these last strokes are painted with the same mixture of red dulled with green that was used on the face as in all of the arts however there are no rules that may not be broken and no sleight of hand of which we may not take advantage when we are painting a portrait [Music]