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LOOSENING UP – Sara Reeve
Semi-finalist Sara Reeve invites us into her creative world with a fresh and looser approach to portrait painting. In this demonstration, she embraces the challenge of using only a decorator’s brush for the entire process, showcasing her unique style, will you do the same?
Reference Image
Materials
Paper or Canvas
Oil Paints –
Titanium White
Burnt Sienna
Yellow Ochre
Cad Red
French Ultramarine
Raw Umber
2 large brushes (We recommend 1.5” decorators brush & 1.5” synthetic flat bush)
Palette
Solvent
Cloth / Rag / Kitchen Roll
Find these items at cassart.co.uk
Finding the tone
Before your initial marks analyse the overall tone of your subject in your reference image. Using the appropriate colour, create a thin mix with water. Use this mixture to make your initial marks.
Initial marks
Start with a plain piece of paper or canvas. Using Burnt Sienna oil paint and a large 1.5” decorators brush, begin your initial marks on the canvas. You want the mix to be thin so make sure you add a suitable amount of solvent to the mix.
Create an outline, focusing on the large shapes of darks and shadows from the reference image. Reflect this by painting heavier in the darker shapes and lighter in the lighter ones.
At this stage, you are building the basic key shapes such as the nose, eyes and mouth. Because you’re working with a large brush, it will force you to make provisional marks and not focus on likeness. Try to enjoy this stage.
Soon, an outline of a face will start to appear. This will serve as a map of your reference. Work with what you have and embrace the large initial marks. Keep the paint thin as you will go over this layer at a later stage.
Feel free to add a bit of a background. Remember, you are only working in one colour (Burnt Sienna) at this stage.
TOP TIP – Don’t soak your brush in the solvent. Just enough to help make your initial outline carvings.
Building the darker areas
The next step is to go over your initial marks, using less solvent so the paint is slightly thicker. Select a new brush which is limber. We recommend a 1.5” synthetic flat brush for its flexibility. A larger brush will be versatile and do more than you think it can.
Keeping an eye on your reference image, focus on the marks which are darker, to contrast them with the lighter areas. Don’t feel as if you must stick to your previous outlines to make more precise marks. This is serving as another map of your reference.
TOP TIP – Stand back and upright at this stage. This allows flexibility for your arm and a scope to map out your reference.
Continue to go over your outlines and separate your reference images’ key dark and light shapes. Brush around the features of the outside outlined areas (e.g. the hair and ear) to find the key shapes.
TOP TIP – Stand back and squint your eyes when looking at your canvas and reference image. This will help you to see the separation of key dark and light shapes. Compare the reference image and your canvas to see if you are on the right track.
Embrace the unpredictable
When outlining the hair from your reference image, continue to embrace your one large brush. It will bring out lines you weren’t expecting; like here on the hairs outline. Don’t focus on individual hairs, just the outlining shape. The aim is to preserve these initial lines you made with the brush.
Building the features
Continue to work your way around the face to build up the facial features from your reference image. Still focusing on the separation of the light and dark shapes. You will find it hard to be precise, because of your large brush and paint, but continue to embrace the unpredictability of your markings and lines.
As the facial features of your reference image start to come out more, continue to squint between the reference and the canvas. You’re still mapping out the shapes of light and dark
before any colour is added. Remember you are still working lightly on the canvas.
TOP TIP – Use some solvent on your brush to help the brush move around your canvas better. If you find a line that looks to be out of place as you build up the features, you can use some solvent on a rag to knock it back.
Adding Tone
For the next layer, start with the darkest tone in the reference image, which is the hair. To do this, mix a dark brown and apply loosely to your canvas. Follow the tonal map you have created so far.
Simplicity is key here, so use the full capabilities of your large brush to capture the loose wavy lines in features like the hair.
TOP TIP – When working with a large brush it’s good to start working on the dark tones before the light ones. It will make it easier to bring back lighter tones from darker ones when you make adjustments later.
Using the tonal map
Use your initial outlines to follow the darker shapes from your reference.
Continue to go around your canvas and fill in the light and dark shapes with appropriate broad tone suggestions that work for your reference image. This is a continuation of the tonal map of your portrait. Remember not to concentrate on any features or likeness just yet.
TOP TIP – When using your one large brush, make sure to clean it off every time you use a different colour
Adding colour
Once you feel you have captured the tones reflected in your reference image, start to add patches of colour. These patches can give the indication of detail. You may feel the tendency to control this with a smaller brush. However, this is fundamental in creating the overall loosened feeling in your portrait.
Continue around the face with colour, and trust the process.
Ribbon background
The background is the secondary character to your portrait and it can compliment your figure.
Mix a slate grey on your palette and apply around the subject. As you are using a large brush, there is a limit to how detailed you can get. Here, you want to create a ribbon effect. This will help to define the outer lines surrounding the head.
TOP TIP – You may find that applying paint with a large brush, means the colour can appear muddy or flat on the canvas. Be cautious using white to lighten areas. It can take out the character and flatten the light. We recommend using Yellow Ochre instead, to avoid the harshness of the white.
Feature focus
Now that you’re coming towards the end of your painting. Continue to fill in the features and take advantage of the strokes you can make with the large brush. Use appropriate colours from your palette to build up the features from your tonal map.
TOP TIP – Stay disciplined with your brush and try to use as few strokes as possible when adding detail. This keeps up the loosened feeling of the painting.
Finishing touches
When coming to your finishing touches, you can cheat and use the end of the large brush to add highlights for your features (e.g. the eyes). Be delicate and constrain yourself from doing this to the whole portrait.
TOP TIP – Another useful tip is to use your finger to smudge and soften any broad and sharp edges. This will add depth to your portrait and bring it together. Clean your finger each time you do this.
