Blog

Continuing the Backgrounds Should Never Be an Afterthought theme, today I will take you through a more advanced version of my intuitive process.

Something out of Nothing.

I began this piece with a beautiful reference photo of Taylor against a blank wall. I had ideas for the background, so I cropped the photo leaving room to develop that empty space.

Intuitive Backgrounds.*

I always begin my portrait paintings with a triad of very watery shades of yellow, rose and blue (about 10% value). I also begin painting outside the lines in order to incorporate the background from the start. It makes no difference what color you start with.

I drew a simple frame in the background. With absolutely no color plans for this piece, I began to define some edges.

What Came First, the Title or the Painting?

In this case, it was the title: A Little Bird Told Me. I searched through my bird images - chickadees, bluebirds, wrens - and decided on this wren. I checked the size and position with a drawing on tracing paper.

Decision by Decision.

When deciding on the next background glaze, my main consideration is whether I want to make it warm or cool. In this case, I chose warm. I continued to establish edges with random colors.

Instinct.

Taking weeks instead of hours to complete a painting allows me to respond to the painting with a bit more thought, but it's still a matter of instinct. I continued the warm background idea and decided to make the frame green.

You Can Always Change Your Mind.

There was a lot of warm going on in this painting, so at this point I decided to apply cool colors to the background area. The nice thing about glazing is that the layers are so light, you can always change your mind! Also, the colors of the previous glazes glow through and add interest to successive layers.

Continuing On.

At this stage, I've established local color in all areas of the painting, so all I need to do is continue on with layers and definition of edges. Of course, the color, value and detail decisions continue.

Listen to the painting.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful! As you can see, I don't make a separation between the subject and the background, rather I work back and forth, letting the painting tell me what it needs. The painting will also let you know when it's finished! Work slowly and thoughtfully - it may be sooner than you think!

(See finished painting, top of page: A Little Bird Told Me.)

Paint. Love. Repeat.

*Keep in mind that the background is the space around the subject that should support and enhance the subject, not detract or distract from it.