I now begin to focus on establishing the features. If the canvas is overloaded with paint, or I need to move things around, I can scrape it down with a palette knife and paint over.
My normal starting point is the eyes. To establish their position, I measure from them to the top of head and to the bottom of chin. I check the line through them, the distance between them
and their relative sizes. I look at the length, angle and width of the nose, and run imaginary lines up from the edge of the nostrils to check them in relation to the eyes.
I then tackle the mouth. Does the centre line of the mouth run up at all? How wide is it? Most importantly, it must be in the right position between the bottom of the nose and bottom of chin. Too high or too low and the likeness will not appear.
I lighten the background and in doing so adjust the contours of the face and top of the head. I also block in very roughly the jumper and shirt.
Shadows and half tones must now be tackled because it is through them that the underlying structure and form of individual features will be rendered. These are painted in at the side of the forehead and nose, as well as the cheek and under the nose.
This first session draws to a close. From blank canvas to this stage has lasted just under two hours. Throughout, I have used a palette knife and large brushes and worked very rapidly. I am pleased that a likeness is beginning to emerge.
TIPS
Even at this early stage of the painting, one has to start measuring, checking and adjusting the proportions of the various features. One cannot simply hope that a likeness will appear.
Regard it as a fascinating problem solving exercise.
As Anthony Storr said: “Creativity is about bringing order out of chaos”.
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