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I've been asked many times recently to share my technique for portrait painting so here goes...I'm currently working on General Ursus for the cover of Shadowland #7, and I'm going to give a nice step by step review of my process with photos. Hopefully any of you up and coming painters will find this info helpful. I use white nylon brushes...a couple different size flats, a few medium round, and a fine detail brush. I use only Folk Art brand acrylics these days, which come in 2 oz. bottles for about a buck fifty. They are really nice...thick, creamy, they blend really well, and dry fast. I also use canvas board, usually 11x14.
The colors I'm using on Ursus are Light Fuschia, Terra Cotta, Brown, Violet Pansy, Titanium White, and Black. I'm using the fuschia and purple to supplant the colors of his gorilla uniform, which will be mostly unseen. You will also need a cup of water to clean your brushes, some paper towels, and I use coated paper plates for my palette.
I start by sketching Ursus onto the canvas with a pencil. When I'm happy with the drawing, I seal it with a shot of Testors Dullcoat. This keeps the pencil from smudging while working, because I don't use an easel. I prefer to paint on a table. Usually when working with acrylics, you go from dark to light, but in this case, the fuschia color is semi transparent, so I basecoat the entire face with it, leaving the drawing showing through. I then add my darkest value, black, into the deep wrinkles and folds of his face. Once this is finished, I start building the colors up in layers, first black/brown, then brown, brown/terra cotta, terra cotta, etc. I break up the skin with some mottling by adding touches of gray and purple to the browns here and there, then go back in and add the finest highlights with my detail brush using my base colors mixed with titanium white. I'm careful not to paint over anywhere I want the fuschia to show through, as the transparent color will be very hard to lay down on top of the darker skin. You can see the finished result across the top of his brow from left to right.
The colors I'm using on Ursus are Light Fuschia, Terra Cotta, Brown, Violet Pansy, Titanium White, and Black. I'm using the fuschia and purple to supplant the colors of his gorilla uniform, which will be mostly unseen. You will also need a cup of water to clean your brushes, some paper towels, and I use coated paper plates for my palette.
I start by sketching Ursus onto the canvas with a pencil. When I'm happy with the drawing, I seal it with a shot of Testors Dullcoat. This keeps the pencil from smudging while working, because I don't use an easel. I prefer to paint on a table. Usually when working with acrylics, you go from dark to light, but in this case, the fuschia color is semi transparent, so I basecoat the entire face with it, leaving the drawing showing through. I then add my darkest value, black, into the deep wrinkles and folds of his face. Once this is finished, I start building the colors up in layers, first black/brown, then brown, brown/terra cotta, terra cotta, etc. I break up the skin with some mottling by adding touches of gray and purple to the browns here and there, then go back in and add the finest highlights with my detail brush using my base colors mixed with titanium white. I'm careful not to paint over anywhere I want the fuschia to show through, as the transparent color will be very hard to lay down on top of the darker skin. You can see the finished result across the top of his brow from left to right.
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