Demo: Stewart Beckett - Portrait Painting
A terrific demo.
Stewart began by dividing his canvas into thirds, placing four dots on the canvas to aid composition.
He explained that the beginning of the process was all about shapes, finding the landmarks on the face - cheekbones, brow ridges. Then he went to putting in the light tones. Tones had to be constantly evaluated. It was important to balance the warm and cool areas. He used complimentary colours to balance (and desaturate) his colours when necessary. He painted in quite dilute paint at the beginning, wiping his brush regularly to avoid mud.
At the middle stage, it was still all about the shapes and the relationships between them. Details were not the focus.
He said it is important to step back and take a break to look at the painting with fresh eyes. A mirror is useful.
For later stages, he used thicker paint and a smaller brush for some details.
Jan was a terrific, very patient model and it was fascinating to watch her likeness gradually emerging.
Stewart’s workshop will suit oils and acrylic, but watercolour might also be accomodated.
Some of Stewart’s portrait work:
