This work-in-progress was painted with Painter IX.

Tools Used:
2B Pencil (Pencil Category) - for sketching
JMG ClumpsyBrush Thick - Custom brush based on Artists Oils’ Clumpy Brush
Flat Oils 30 (Oils category) - for background
Flat Oils 40 (Oils category) - for background
JMG-JCoop Clumpy Brush - Custom brush based on Artists Oils’ Clumpy Brush
Round Camel Hair-hair - Custom brush based on Oil’s Round Camel Hair - for hair

Paper: Gessoed Canvas
Printable Size: 20″ x 16″
Working Size: 10″ x 8″ at 150 dpi

This is a digital painting I am currently working on. I am also recording the whole process as I paint it in Painter IX, showing at the same time my Painter’s selections and options as I go. This video will be available soon after I finish the portrait completely. Stay tuned for further information and availability.

This is the reference photo I am currently working from. (This Photo and all images in this site are Copyrighted © 2006 Janet M. Garcia.) The reference photo was taken by myself at a live workshop. I have painted this subject in the past several times with traditional oils and pastel from a live sitting.

Step 1:
For this video, I wanted to show viewers the option of sketching by cloning from the source, although I recommend not to use it so that you can further improve your drawing skills which are going to help with you painting skills too. The resulting sketch is shown below.I decided on a dark brown background to keep the mood of the painting in a quiet environment. The sketch, I decided to draw it with a light color using a 2B Pencil so it would show up better against the dark background.

Step 2:
I started painting the background with the Flat Oils 30 and 40 from the Oils category. This is a soft brush that won’t leave too much impasto marks and it’s very good for blending several colors directly on the support.

Step 3:
For this step, I chose my custom brush: JMG ClumpsyBrush Thick. This is a custom brush based on the Artists Oils’ Clumpy Brush. When I was naming this brush I misspelled it and instead of naming it Clumpy, I named it Clumpsy. LOL I guess I had the word clumsy on my mind. LOL.I started blocking in some flesh tones on the face. This brush allows me to blend my selected color with the chosen background/canvas color. This is why it is very important to select a background/canvas color before starting to paint. If I had chosen white, my brush would be blending my flesh color with white, changing then my end result.

Step 4:
Once I covered the face with a basic flesh tone, I added darker flesh tones to areas in shadow. Shadows can be cool or warm depending on the light source.

Step 5:
I continued to add darker flesh tones to all areas in shadow, like his neck and the side of the nose.

Tomorrow, I will be posting more work-in-progress images of Solitude II.
Thanks for visiting my Journal.To preview some video clips: Solitude 2 Demo