Portrait Painting Process Oil Painting Demonstration

Painting Process 3 Faces of Children

The first layer of color goes in thinly. I pay careful attention to the shapes of the shadows and lights. I focus on maintaining accurate contrast between the lights and darks. Some edges are lost and softened. I use a limited palette of oil color paints for this layer. White, black, cad yellow light, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, cad red light, perm alizarin crimson, terra rosa, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, burnt umber and raw umber. My color sketch, a color photograph and a black and white photograph are used for reference during this stage of the painting process.