Jan Helton Artworks

April 15, 2021

NEWSLETTER

Color Me Beautiful: A Portrait Progression

"Color Me Beautiful," original 16" x 12.5" watercolor painting

Beginning Thoughts.

Whenever I begin a watercolor portrait, I have a few ideas on where I’m going with it, but mostly I let it evolve layer-by-layer. I loved the playful expression on Taylor’s face in this photo. I knew I wanted to create a fun piece, and I knew I wanted to incorporate some branches in the background.

Below, I've outlined a simplified step-by-step progression. The actual time required to complete this painting was far greater than this brief tutorial suggests!

The first wash.

I began, as usual, with a very light wash of quinacridone gold, quinacridone rose, and peacock blue, randomly changing colors as I covered the areas of flesh.

I like to establish the features right away. I want to capture a fresh likeness from the start, but I’m careful not to do too much too fast.

The second pass.

I decided on a warm background and a blue sweater and glazed those areas before applying some color to the shadow areas on my model's flesh. I also began a careful suggestion of a branch behind her head.

The painting continues.

I began to add details to Taylor’s sweater and necklace. I liked the blue area next to her temple, so I reinforced the color with a bit more blue and violet. This is where I began to think about exaggerating color.

More decisions.

By now, the hair has received a few thin layers of paint; I've also increased the values in the background as well as on the sweater and flesh. I've intensified the branch, but I know I'd like to have more going on back there...

With the help of the Markup tool in the photo editing app on my iPhone, I alternately scribbled in and removed lines to indicate branches until I was satisfied. I saved this version to use as a reference before adding more branches to the actual painting.*

More thinking, less painting. As the painting approaches completion, I work slowly and carefully.

Value check.

I go back into my photo editing app to remove the color** in order to assess the values.

On to completion.

I cautiously adjusted values and intensified color until I was content. I really enjoyed working on this piece!

Final values.

My paintings tend to be rather high key, but value checks allow me to be sure I have enough darks running through the painting.

Final thoughts.

I started this piece with a couple basic ideas and then just let the painting emerge as decisions were made. For me, it's much more fun to listen to my instincts and "go with the flow" than to try to control the outcome (besides, that never ends well!). What will you create today?

Paint. Love. Repeat.

*Another method would have been to use Dura·Lar which I wrote about in my article What a Difference a Glaze Makes: Color and Value.

**I explain how to do desaturate a photo in my article Self-Critique Tips for Painting

Good News

(Click on the photo above or the link below to read the article.)

My article, Photograph, Paint, Repeat, was published in the Arts and Culture section of Missouri Life Magazine dated April 1, 2021. How cool is that?!

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