The very first step in building this portrait is positioning the darkest areas.With my
computer, I resized the reference picture to fit the panel, then make a few black
and white prints. I will use them to make some negative and positive masks. This
is a quick and easy way to work but you have to be very careful when using them
because you risk creating some unwanted hard edges, which you might have some
difficulty getting rid of and possibly run the risk of loosing that 3D effect that you are
trying to achieve. I then cut out all the dark areas and place the mask on the jacket.
Using some black I spray a light mist just enough to transfer the shapes. Again
here, I stress on the ‘’light mist’’ because you don’t want those nasty hard edges.
I ended up using at least 2 prints of the face to create all the negative and positive
masks. Remember to save your resized image on your PC, you never know when
you might need it again. Make sure that you keep all the cut out pieces since they
might come very handy when you get into the tight detailing later on and are your
looking for a hard edge mask too match a specific shape. Some people will call
this technique cheating. I disagree completely with that statement. I call it using
any means possible at my disposal to create the most realistic looking painting
while taking the least amount of time. For me, it’s all about the result. Besides,
this is no different than painting some skulls while using some prefabricated skull
templates.
With the mask removed, I have everything I need to start the free hand painting.
Now the fun is about to start!
Using some opaque white reduced with some extender to a ratio of 3:1, I start the
detailing process. I always work without the crown cap of my airbrush. This allows
me to constantly pick at my exposed needle tip with my thumb and index fingers
from my free hand, allowing me to remove any tip dry. I’m so used to doing it that
it has become second nature for me. I just want to hit the bright spots and I work
in light coats with close to 40PSI. Notice how close my reference picture is to my
painting surface. You want to have it as close as possible to your work area to
avoid moving your head back and fourth...only your eyes should move. Believe me,
this really helps!
Keep building the facial features while making sure not to loose the black in the
dark zones. I use free hand shield to obtain crisp hard edges where required. Its
important especially when painting faces to get both the hard as well as the soft
edges in the right place. At this point, don’t try to over detail one area in particu-
lar. Your painting has to progress all together. This is also an important thing to
remember and it is quite easy to get lost in the detailing stage by actually ‘’over
detailing’’ one area in particular. The eyeball was then painted in solid white, and
then I came back with some black to do the iris.
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