Week 3 of the Mastery Program…
Using charcoal and my first portrait without tracing…
Week 3 - Using charcoal and my first portrait without tracing…
Up until this point, most of the portraits I have done, I have started with tracing the basic outlines and proportions first, before adding all the shading and finer details.
To be clear, there is no problem with this.
My fellow artists - how you choose to get your proportions down in your art, doesn’t define you as an artist. Use whatever method you need to create the outlines so you can get on with the painting or drawing. These initial outlines are likely to change and be covered up by the end anyway.
But for me, the whole point of taking the Milan Art Institute’s Mastery Program is to elevate my skills and take me from someone who can only comfortably draw some things, to someone who can draw anything.
I had become sick of saying to people “I don’t do portraits” or “I’m not comfortable doing people’s faces” and wanted to be in a position where I could create artwork from a place of strength, not weakness or fear.
So, as expected, this week was full of lessons for me.
Some with great outcomes and some not-so-great outcomes 😆
The first part of the week started with a seemingly basic cardboard box still life.
The idea is, that if you can correctly draw a cardboard box and an ellipse, you can draw any-thing in the universe. Everything is either a cardboard box or an ellipse.
This task was tough - translating a view from life into a 2D drawing is more difficult than it looks, but it left me with a new love for charcoal as a medium. It was also a reminder that I need to keep drawing from life if I want to continue to elevate and refine my skills.
The next task started off well…
I chose to use a beautiful photo of one of my favourite musicians, Jhene Aiko, to create my first portrait painting.
I started off pretty well - she was definitely recognisable in the subtraction stage.
In fact, I posted a little process video of this next painting and it is now my most viewed video on Instagram 😆 (check it out here)
Choosing a familiar face of someone famous can work in your favour, or against it.
When people recognise the person you were trying to paint then that’s great!
But the pressure is then so much higher to get those famous or dearly loved portraits right as your audience will know if you’ve messed up…
I messed up 😆
I mean, the painting is still pretty cool - I really enjoyed the method of mixing skin tones and layering colours to capture the highlights and shadows.
Trying to not get all ‘blendy blendy’ with my brushstrokes was tough as the colours all started mixing, but this just meant I had to work in layers and leave her to dry before moving onto the smaller brushstroke work.
But she does not look like the beautiful woman that I was aiming for 😅
Painting animals or anonymous faces is so much easier because the unique details aren’t as important or noticeable.
But when there is an expectation of what someone is supposed to look like, getting the proportions even slightly off can be the difference between capturing the person perfectly or making them look odd.
I think I made Jhene look odd.
Butttt I learned so much through this painting, and now looking at it again while writing this blog, there is something I love about it. Even if she doesn’t look exactly as she was supposed to.
I need to be kind to myself and remember that I am going to make some paintings I’m not obsessed with - I’m still learning!
And just because my last couple of paintings were good, doesn’t mean I am going to create beautiful works of art every time…
I need to start being more patient and realistic!
Practice, practice, practice.
Chill out Lauren, you have time! And this is your first real portrait - come on girl!!!!
To keep going through this program without getting deflated and all self-doom is proving to be the hardest part. But I will keep looking at the positives!
Here are a few positives for this week:
There are some really beautiful skin tones and highlights in this painting
I had a process video go kind-of viral
The underpainting looked great
I proved I can start a portrait without tracing
My charcoal still life turned out great
So that I am proud of.
Here she is, my first real portrait painting without tracing! ✨
Both of these pieces from this week are available, but not on my website! If you are ever interested in anything you see in my blog then please just send me an email 🥰
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