This has been exciting! For as long as I can remember, I have loved drawing portraits.  Even as a child I was able to draw and shade with a level of accuracy that pleased me.  However, in all my years as an artist and teacher, I never painted a portrait with oils.  It’s a very different learning experience to any other and for every success I have made a dozen mistakes!

Everyone has a different approach so with anything creative, you have to do what works for you.  I have a very short attention span, so find that I need to do minimal sketching and get the paint on as soon as possible.  The first thing I do is block in the background around the face with a dark colour.  This helps to really see the skin tones, the light & shadows and ensure the values are correct.

I have found so far that my basic pallet always features the same pigments, which seem to provide a good base for most caucasian skin tones.  This includes:
Raw Umber
Burnt Umber
Titanium White
Sage Green
Magenta
Payne’s Grey
Pale Rose Blush
Yellow Ochre
These are all Windsor & Newton Oil Colours which are my personal preference.

I always start out with Yellow Ochre and Titanium White to block in the face shape, then add layers of colour to produce contours.  My personal choice so far, has been to create shadow with a sweep of Magenta, knocked back slightly with a touch of Sage Green.  This creates a shadow which you can rub in to the existing layer of Yellow Ochre for light or deep contours.

I avoid using black in all my paintings, instead opting to create my own with what I am using.  Payne’s Grey is a beautiful deep grey with luxurious blue tones.  It is perfect for the pupils of sparkling eyes and if you add it to a mixture of Titanium White and Pale Rose Blush, can be used for highlights, ruddy cheeks and even definition of brown hair.

I am always banging on about the importance of understanding colour theory and portrait painting is a real test of that.  Especially when capturing children!  The lesson learned, is that shadows age the child and therefore have to be avoided.  How can you define shape?  By lifting the highlights.  Avoid using browns and keep the skin as etherial as possible.