Figure and Portrait Drawing & Painting Lessons
A painting demonstration in oil on a 24x16" canvas. 1980
By William Whitaker
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I stretched a piece of Fredrix Sarasota linen acrylic primed canvas. I brushed on another layer or two of acrylic gesso to fill the weave a bit. I worked up the drawing in a hurry using several sheets of tracing paper. The first drawing is just a scribble done with a fat carpenter's pencil. I traced off the best lines and refined the drawing on a second sheet. When that sheet gets too black, I transfer the drawing to a third sheet, and so on through as many sheets as necessary. I learned this method from my uncles who were Disney animators. It's quick and very effective. I then rubbed charcoal on the back of the drawing and transferred the lines to the toned canvas. I got out a big brush and finished the first stage in a few minutes. When the canvas was dry, I took it up again and carried it to the second stage in the upper right picture using large bristle brushes.
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There are so many things that can go wrong in a painting. I'm always unhappy when I have to stop before I have a good face on the canvas. I'm afraid I won't be able to fix it. Nevertheless, my goal here was to always stop a session just short of going a little too far. I let the canvas dry and then took it up again, always staying loose, always using the largest brushes possible. I like to build up layers of paint and let the underpaint show through.
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Here are a couple of closeup's that show how loose the painting is. It's s good idea to make the painting look effortless. It's also a good idea to stop before you've done too much damage. No matter how finished my painting may look, I always work as loose as possible. Remember, you're not painting stuff, you're painting the effect of light on stuff.
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This image is also shown in gallery 2 of my Retrospective Galleries section accompanied by a poem written by my friend Jae Malone.
By William Whitaker
Visit William's Site: http://www.williamwhitaker.com/