Saturday, April 30, 2011

Another step-by-step

I have been invited to paint a portrait of a well known PBS television star during an important luncheon at Sacramento's local PBS broadcasting station. The keynote speaker at the luncheon will be the president of PBS. I will also have on display four other PBS stars to help promote my portraiture business. This is the very first PBS star that I painted last week. About five hours, on a 20 inch by 20 inch stretched canvas. The first photo shows my "start". I am working from a reference photo. The first thing I did was outline the contours of the face with a 1/8 inch wide flat brush. After that, I painted in the basic value shapes. I kept things very rough at this stage as you can see. All I did was build my contour/value shape foundation in one color. In this case, I chose purple. Color is not that important at this stage as it will be totally covered as I move along on the painting process. The next stage shows the face's local skin color painted in along with the background color. I always keep in my mind the ENTIRE painting as a harmonious entity, especially the colors. In all of these steps, I am painted with various sized (small, medium, and large) flat brushes. I used flat brushes to get a sculpted/chisel look. In the next stage, I have most of the colors painted in. I like to be somewhat expressive in my color choices. As long as I can maintain the value structure of the face and keep colors harmonized, I'm in good shape. The final photo shows the lower lip painted in and brings my effort to a conclusion. Note the bits of tourqoise and local skin tones distributed throughout the painting to maintain that color harmony. Again, I gave a rough hewn quality to this painting. This will be the model for the other to follow. As I complete them in the next week or two, I shall post the results. Do you know who this dude is??

15 comments:

Carol Blackburn said...

Awesome portrait, David. I love seeing your process photos. Thanks so much.

hw (hallie) farber said...

I've watched him since the Watergate hearings. Great portrait.

David Lobenberg said...

Thank, Carol and Hallie. Mr. Lehr has been on air a long time! A very distinguished news anchor indeed.

Autumn Leaves said...

What a glorious portrait, David. I doubt I know who this gentleman is, but he sure looks familiar.

devotedmomof7 said...

David - this is fantastic! I love the colors throughout which amplify his cheerful expression.

David Lobenberg said...

Autumn, Watch the PBS New Hour. Mr. Lehr will thank you and as always, I thank you for reading my humble blog!

David Lobenberg said...

Thanks, Cheryl (devotedmomof7). He does have a cheerful expression. I was focusing more on his beady eyes. They were a challenge.

Shirupa Gupta said...

It's been a while since I visited your blog.....I love the colors you use for the portraits....Fauvism :)

David Lobenberg said...

Shirupa, You are correct...there is a little bit of Fauvist colors on this portrait.

Meera Rao said...

I think you captured Mr. Lehrer's personality! wonderful colors and values.

David Lobenberg said...

So glad you groove on this one, Meera! I always value your opinion...the good, the bad, and the ugly. I am trying to develop an acrylic portraiture style with a bit of moxy.

Anonymous said...

Well done, David. Esp. like your color choices for the underpainting!

David Lobenberg said...

Thanks, Frank.

Nick said...

great David!! And a good man, one of the few I can listen to

David Lobenberg said...

Thanks, Nick. Yes, his new program is the only I can stand to view. The rest are just excuses to sell soap,