6.28.11 An evening with Jeff

A quick post of a three hour portrait sketch done last night.  Jeff was a new subject who had never posed before, and he did very well. Jeff, oil on lead primed panel, 10 x 8″

I worked with thick, straight paint over a warm wash of some ochre and Gamsol.  The biggest shapes came first, working from the outside to the inner smaller shapes.  No details of the features until the end.When painting on these small panels, I use this larger  16 x 20″ support panel, toned a middle gray . This helps keep the little panel from getting visually lost on the easel, and provides a consistent neutral tone to help me see the colors and values when the light on my painting is less than ideal.  Works well with outdoors  subjects, too.