Behind the Scenes of My Next Painting - Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of this mini-series. The idea of this mini-series is to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the brainstorming and idea-generation process. This is what I typically do before I take on a major painting of an unfamiliar and challenging subject. A lot can go into a painting before the first strokes are made!

In Part 1, I selected reference photos to paint from.

In Part 2, I did a sketch and four color studies.

For this third and final part, I completed a more detailed full-color study of Arabella’s face. You can see it below.

I had two goals with this study:

First, to capture Arabella’s character. This is critical when painting portraits. The subject must look and feel like that person. It’s not enough for it to look like a realistic child. It has to be Arabella. And as her father, the bar is set even higher than usual.

I did a good job of this in the study. It passes the likeness test. The most important aspects seem to be her full cheeks, her partially squinting yet round eyes, and that joyful, toothy smile. If I had to describe her character in one word, it would be “joyful”. She is a happy spirit, and that’s what I want to capture in a painting.

Second, the subtle reflected light and color temperature variations. From the left-hand side is a soft, warm glow. From the right is a soft purple glow. And around her forehand, I see hints of green, yellow, and purple.

It wasn’t easy to capture all this without compromising the overall value structure. If I went a touch too light with the reflected light, it didn’t read correctly. But if I was too timid with the reflected light, it looked flat and lifeless.

The subtle color variations add a sense of complexity to the painting. They also reinforce the structure and form of Arabella’s face. Different plane = different color, as Steve Huston often puts it.

Now I’m ready to do a more serious painting of Arabella. I’ll let you know how it turns out!