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Here is the long awaited photo of progress on the current oil portrait in process.  It’s just a close up.  (The whole painting will be revealed once it is complete.) Spencer is painted with grisaille gray underpainting.  I changed some of his facial structure some. He looks older.  He’s going to change so much as I add more layers and sculpt his face. Sculpture with paint.  Haha.  Also what you see there is the application of the 2nd layer which is the first layer of color.  His hair has the complete second layer.  One thing I’m being a little to cautious of is that I’m afraid to add too much color and what that is doing is making him look very pale.  He looks washed out and almost dead at the current with the full 2nd layer of color.   Kind of creepy.  The gray undertone is coming through really well.  I need to kick up the color.  But I’ll talk more about that later when I can actually show you what I’m talking about.

The I applied the gray layer very thick for a wash.  Don’t know why.  I just decided to try it. Again, the more detail I start out with, the easier it will be to progress the painting, yet I find I’m still having some trouble.  He looks older than he is and I’m dealing with those issues.  The horse has the burnt umber wash.  With all of that hair, I don’t feel that there is a need to have translucency in the skin.

But one thing for sure, he’s coming across with the sense of honor, bravery, and c0nfidence that I wanted.  Bravo.

Constructive criticism is welcomed.

blessings,
Grace