Thursday 20 August 2009

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!

6 comments:

ChinChin said...

This is what my sketches aspire to be when they grow up :)
Oil painting I shall leave to the pros ...
Amazing work!

adebanji said...

Thanks ChinChin!

Jeannette StG said...

Have to say that I like your sketch more - it has more "presence" somehow...

adebanji said...

JS Thanks, I know what you mean!

artybecca said...

I agree with your statement...the line quality in your sketches is what makes them so great. And that's something that can't be captured by the brush. I love the sketches. They're all very striking!

adebanji said...

Oh thanks artybecca!