Madonna and Child – Painting a Portrait of a Child

Art Lesson 42, Part 4

Painting a Portrait of a Child

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Painting a Portrait of a Child

Session Five

We continue with the figure of the child. For this step, we prepare Burnt Sienna mixed with Stand Linseed Oil. A very thin coat of Glaze is applied over the completely dry surface.

This Glaze makes the appearance of the skin more natural, as the colder Underpainting layer shows through the warmer Glazing.

Now we prepare a mix for some highlights, using Titanium White and a bit of Yellow Ochre. As a Medium, we use Stand Linseed Oil. We will make the highlights lighter while the Glaze is still wet. The paint fuses well into the wet and viscous Glaze. After that, we can leave the canvas aside to dry or work on other parts of the composition.

We continue working on the child’s hairstyle. Let’s expose a bit more of the forehead.

It doesn’t matter that curls are showing through the overpainted layer – it will look like a cast shadow from the hair. So far, the hairstyle looks fragmented, so we will merge the curls into a more unified volume. For that, we use Titanium White and Yellow Ochre mixed with Stand Linseed Oil. While the paint is still wet, it is easy to fix any mistakes by wiping them out and by painting over them. An Underpainting should be lighter in tone, as later, it will be glazed over. Now we can leave the canvas aside to dry or work on other parts of the composition.

Session Six

We glaze over the Underglazing, which is now completely dry. For the Glaze, we mix Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber. Stand Linseed Oil is used as a Medium. More Burnt Sienna is added into the mix for shaded curls. After that, we can set the canvas aside to dry or work on other parts of the composition.

Session Seven

Now we mix Burnt Umber with Stand Linseed Oil. This paint will be used to reinforce the shadows and half-tones by applying extra layers of the semi-transparent Glaze.

The same paint is used for the shadow areas of the hair. In general, the figure of the child is completed. We can apply the final highlights, using the mix of Titanium White and Yellow Ochre with Stand Linseed Oil.

Multiple semi-transparent and transparent layers create a vibrant appearance to the skin. You can apply as many layers of Glazes and Velaturas as you find necessary.