reflection : mixed media portrait step by step

'Reflection' : mixed media portrait painting on canvas
'Reflection' : mixed media portrait painting on canvas

It has been years and years since I've done any 'proper' portrait work. With Heidi here in the studio we both felt it would be awesome to do something we're both out of touch with.

As I mentioned in my last post we followed an online demonstration by the super talented Jane Spakowsky. I highly recommend learning something new once in a while, or brushing up on a skill with a talented teacher. If you can do it with a buddy, all the better!

Here are the steps I took in completing my portrait ...

Collage and stencilled underpaiting
Collage and stencilled underpaiting
Modelling the face in grey and white
Modelling the face in grey and white
Further modelling with a hint of green
Further modelling with a hint of green
Adding the hair
Adding the hair
Warm skin tones
Warm skin tones
Finishing the hair and the background
Finishing the hair and the background
Finished portrait : 'Reflection', mixed media on canvas
Finished portrait : 'Reflection', mixed media on canvas

'Reflection'

Mixed media on exhibition canvas
50 x 40 cm
Available

What's next? Another portrait for sure :-)

PS
Here's the vintage photography I worked from...

Vintage photography of a woman for inspiration
Vintage photography of a woman for inspiration

PPS - Paintings for sale!

I'm slowly adding acrylic paintings to my Etsy shop. They're of all sizes, and are mostly abstracts and landscapes and abstract landscapes. If you're after one of my original paintings and live in New Zealand you should pop along there - http://scatterlings.etsy.com

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One of my all-time favourite paintings of a stormy day in a ruined Roman town in Spain.

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