Nector and Tor Tor oil painting, the making.

There are many ways and methods I put in to use when doing an oil painting.  I thought it would be fun to describe one that I find to be the best when doing portraits.

A while ago I was commissioned to do an oil painting of a dog (Tor) and his owner (Nector).  Tor is a beautiful black labrador with a really nice and unique personality, which made my work to be more challenging since I had to capture his appearance exactly.  Also I have never painted big portions of black with different shades and I was intrigued by how it was going to turn out.

Throughout the days it took me to finish this painting, I decided to take several pictures to be able to explain every step.

1.  Acrylic layer.

Many people choose to outline the canvas using charcoal or pencil, in my case I use a light layer of Raw Sienna acrylic paint.  Looking at important features and shades, I try to apply different forms and shapes on the canvas until it stars to look like the subject.

Acrylic dries very fast, that’s the reason I use it for the first two layers of my oil paintings, always keeping in mind that once I use oil I cannot use acrylic again.

2.  Acrylic layer 2.

Once the first Acrylic layer is completely dry, I go over the whole canvas with another thin layer of a very light green, which I create by mixing Hansa Yellow, Cerulean Blue, some Quinacridone Red, a touch of black and white.  Then I let it dry again.  The reason of this is so that when applying color into the canvas I don’t have such a big contrast with the white color of the canvas (this is called Imprimatura, or Toning the Canvas)

3.  Raw Umber oil layer.

In this paticular painting I decided to use Raw Umber for the under-layer because of the colors of the subject and the finish I wanted to have.  For other paintings, depending on the effect I want to have on the final piece, I use a different under-layer color or even colors.

This step is one of the most important for portraits in my opinion, since details you do here will be noticed at the end.  Here I start looking more for unique features of the subject and adding them.

Once I’m happy with the under-layer I let it dry for about 3 - 5 days, sometime for me it is even necessary to do a second or even a third one if I want to add more detail.

4.  Adding color

One of my favorite ones, choosing right colors and mixing them is fun.  Depending on the color or mixture I use, people will have different opinions and feeling about it. For example, if for the skin tone I add blues the subject will have a cooler and paler feeling.  On the other hand, if I add more reds it will appear more warm and healthy. I enjoy playing around with different colors until I find the right one.

When it’s done I let it dry for another 3-5 days.

5.  Adding detail.

In the final step, as the title says, I add detail.  I look for “mistakes” and fix them, If I think a part of the skin tone need more reds, blues, or other colors, I add them, most of the times using a transparent color or making it transparent by adding linseed oil.

I let it dry this time for 10 days, to make sure it’s completely dry to the touch and apply a very thin coat of a mixture of linseed oil, J.G. Vibert painting medium, and tempentine.  This, makes the texture of the paining look more neutral (not so shinny or so mate) and better finish until it can be varnish. I let it dry for 10-15 days, until is dry to the touch and frame it.

NECTOR AND TOR TOR

WEB

FACEBOOK