Workshop

I begin by taking a series of photographs of the subject. One of the most critical aspect of my photography is how the eyes are positioned. I always like to have the subject looking of into the distance with very limited facial expression. The lack of expression I feel allows for the face of the subject to be the focal point. How the light hits the face is equally important, my works rely on lights and darks, the shadowing on the face can transform the look and feel of the painting.

Once I have selected the photo I always place it into black and white via photoshop. By doing this I can look to break the painting down into sections. I use a small amount of photoshop work to help with this. I adjust the contrast focusing on create areas of black, areas of mid tones and finally looking at the highlights.

Now that I am happy with how the photo looks I begin to sketch the piece in photoshop using the drawing tool. I do this on a separate layer so I can make changes. If you don’t wish to use this method you can either project the photo onto the canvas or draw your outline using a lighting box. I have used all 3 methods and I find the easiest method is to draw the outline in photoshop as you have a more opportunity to make adjustments.

I very rarely work from a white background, I always like to have fun creating a background for the painting. I do try to keep the backgrounds not too light or dark. The background forms the mid-tones of my paintings and sets the tone for the colours that will applied later on in the process. Once completely dry the canvas is ready for the sketch.

In photoshop I turn all layers off except for the sketch that I have created. I then turn all of the lights off and project onto the canvas. This really helps when the background created is very messy, you can clearly see the sketch marks you have created.

I begin the painting by adding in the black areas using a brush. I then look at blocking in a few of the sections to get an idea of dimension for the painting. I usually stay away from adding in any highlight until later in the painting. It is always a personal preference but for the style I have created I will always work from dark to light.

Finally, the painting is ready for the palette knives. I will always start with the eye in all of my portraits. For me, this is the most important element to get right. Once I get the eye working it sets the tone for the rest of the painting. The areas of the eye are also the area that I apply the most detail.

From there I look to work on the other areas including the mouth and the tip of the nose. Once these areas are looking right I look to use large palette knives and the application of stroke become larger and more spaced out. I look to allow the visual interest of the background created to become part of the final painting.

I never know when my piece is finished, it really is a gut feeling. If I feel that the painting is finished I will leave it for a day come back asses. I personally like paintings that have elements that are not finished as it gives more interest in the painting.