Working from Life

For two days now I have had friends come and sit for me. So much better then working from the photos. Yesterday I worked on getting a study done for colours mainly. Today I am getting close to finishing a portrait that I've been going back to regularly. Having my friend to sit was a great help. I'm sure it will take little now to complete the portrait. I volunteered to sit tonight for a group to paint my portrait and it was very interesting having the opportunity to listen to someone teach portraiture. I found it very informative and learned a new way to approach the portrait after the first drawing stage with the first painting stage was using the lights and darks only. I have not been doing this with just those two piles mixed up, I've been making more then two. I'm sure there are as many techniques as artists painting though. Also as I keep saying over and over I've been attempting to get plane shapes first and will carry on with this approach and add this new idea of seeing the main shadow and lights, once I have the the planes well worked out. Since I draw them first anyways this will help me see how the light falls across them. I will probably go back to a drawing stage again then I go into the darks, then the middle values and finally the lights for the next painting stage. This is a little different then what I've been doing as I've been scumbling in the temperatures and hues I've been seeing but these large flat shapes are probably the best way to go. When I did this small colour sketch I was all over the map with my progression and steps. I did notice that as my friend was working on my portrait she was first searching out the planes and that gave her a good foundation to work from. I was glad to see she gleaned something from my nattering at her for two hours. It was great practice for me to talk it through also.