MACKY, 9" x 12", Mixed Media on Paper, 2010

This is another transformation from memory.

This time I actually requested to sketch this homeless guy for an agreed price for just 5 minutes.



The sketch looked very brief but I worked on the colour transformation a bit more.

Steps
1. I used a canson orange paper

2. Started sketching with watercolour with a flat sable for the basic parts of this portrait.

3. Start under-painting of the whole face and other features with burnt sienna washes of watercolour and olive green.

4. I introduce chalk pastel with broad strokes all over the face and clothes to block in the initial colours

5.I then move on to wax crayons to add expressive strokes and tie up the structure and harmony of colour all over the piece. I love these wax crayons as they are less messy and reveal more of my passion for linear strokes.

6. I then finish up with a soft black oil base pencil to add more detail and recover some of the drawing that gets lost during the expressive wax technique.

7. Call it quits........

Contemplation, 6.5" x 6.5", Gouache, 2009

This is another transformation purely from memory. I sketched this guy, he must have had a hard day at work. He looked like a builder to me. I loved his face and was quite pleased to get this opportunity to sketch him.

1. Get my museum mountboard and give it an acrylic wash base of cadmium yellow and yellow ocher.

2. I start by placing the main large shapes with my flat sable, no initial drawing in this one.

3. After the main shapes are in place I begin to use a glazing technique to keep laying colours until I get both transparency and opacity in various places as I want.

4.The remaining touches are done to add detail to the main features.

5. I soften the edges around the background by spraying water over the area.

6. I have to stop before this piece gets overworked by the glazing technique.

"Grumpy Joe" 9" x 12", Pastel on gessoed cardboard, 2009

Another transformation. I sketched this guy yesterday, so his image was still fresh in my memory. I was attracted to sketch him because he had a really interesting face, the kind of face I love to sketch. The only problem was that, I was a bit to far away from him and couldn't really get to see his features clearly. Nevertheless I managed to get the most important bits down and when I got to my studio I quickly did this pastel sketch of it. I have also taken a picture of the set up to show how I laid my pastels, with the working area and reference.



I went about working on this piece as follows.

1. Got my gessoeed cardboard primed with white gesso and a neutral grey tint, which was a mixture of ultramarine blue and cadmium orange.

2. I start by running a few colours of pastel across the surface in a haphazard manner, just to break the plainness of the grey tint.

3.I start from the light areas, working on the big shapes first with all the light coloured pastels I feel will work for his skin tones in the light. There's no real formulae to this, I only respond to intuition.

4. Then I move to the darks and repeat the same process as I did for the lights. Its the big shapes first.

5. Now when the big shapes begin to look good, I start drawing into the shapes with my darker coloured pastels to get some of the features in.

6. It generally looks finished at this point and this is how simple 2 tones and some brief sketching basically bring the face forms to life.

7. Just before I wrap it up, I use some soft thin willow charcoal to sketch in some interesting lines and details, just to add some life to his face and that's it!

8. This was purely an experiment and the pastel medium gives one a lot of room to do that.

After a rough day at work, 8" x 10", oil on canvas board, 2009

This is another transformation of one of my sketches into colour.

I sketched this guy last year on the 14th of June as the date reads and I can't really remember what made me sketch him other than the fact that sleeping commuters are the best-No disturbance and they keep still, with the exception of some drifters!

I went about this one, thus:

1. I got my canvas board primed with neutral grey (white gesso with orange and blue acrylic)

2. I started by sketching his face with a a number 2 sable brush, using the tip of it with some Terra Rosa oil paint.

3. When satisfied with the terra rosa sketch, I just started to paint section by section starting from the eyes and moving right round the face, just like a jigsaw puzzle. The colours used were, titanium white, raw umber, lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, yellow ocher, cadmium orange, cadmium red, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, viridian green and chromium oxide. The medium used was oleopasto-impasto liquin.

4. When almost all the face had been completed with the neck, I used the tip of my brush to adjust all meeting planes and edges around the face so that it wouldn't look patchy. e.g where the forehead meets the hair.

5. After adjusting the edges, I run over the whole sketch again with the goal of refining the drawing. Also, just going over the sketch gives room for the face not to look overworked but still maintain a sketchy feel.

6. I struggled with the particular flow of light across the planes of the face, as my reference sketch was quite confusing. But because I have use no colour reference and this is just experimental for me, I go with the flow, hoping that the mistakes might even make the face look interesting!

7. I have a look in the mirror and see some sore spots, I refine them and decide to stop.

8. I didn't want to put any background in this one, just to keep it looking like a work in progress.

Before the Interview, 8" x 11" oil on gessoed cardboard, 2009

With the same methods employed in the last transformation I have painted this piece from one of my best sketches on public transport.

I remember it was an early morning ride from Abbey Wood to London Bridge and there were many delays on the train which helped for more time to sketch this lady.

I have used a limited palette of 3 colours (Cadmium yellow deep, Alizarin Crimson and Winsor blue(red shade) with white) for this piece.

Solitude Satisfaction, 8" x 8", Oil on linen canvas board, 2009

This is another transformation. I sketched this guy a while back and I have always wanted o paint him because of his large turban. Funny enough I am never really pleased with the colour results as much as the sketches.

I have used very direct painting here.

Block by block, section by section without any colour reference but just an experiment of taking the sketches a step further.

1. Transfer the sketch to the canvas board, I enlarged the sketch to the size of the canvas and then rubbed graphite at the back of the paper, then used a pen to make lines which gave me an accurate image.

2. Then starting from the check bone, I worked section by section, painting shapes and blocks of colour, moving along the canvas.

3. Each area was resolved before moving to another, so there was no after-detailing in this method.

4. I only tidying up some edges around the background and profile and called it a day after 2 hours!

Alla Prima is great especially when looking for spontaneous results like this one!

...wish it didn't happen, apprx 12" x 16", Acrylic, 2008

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This transformation was done with a clear purpose of demonstrating how great the new Winsor & Newton Artists Acrylics are. I did it while recording was going on so I didn't really have much time to think.

But I remember this was done with 3 colours- Cadmium Red, Ultramarine Blue, Lemon Yellow and Titanium White.

1. the method I used here was direct. As it was to finished in one sitting.

2. No colour references, just memory and a passion for faces.

3. I sketched the face from the sketch, which you can see is far more spirited in mood than anything my colours can produce!

4. Then with just the three colours at my disposal I mixed and mixed until I got what I wanted- Now this is no hit and miss game but calculated mixtures as I feel you can get all colours from just the primary three.

5. It started with mass colours. middle tones first then darks and then lights-Life is always easier when it has a structure!

6. The details were added succinctly

7. No water was used in this painting to mix and no medium just the wonderful lively acrylic paints!

8. I finished in about 25 minutes as it was a quick demo- you can see little parts of the video by clicking here