Face Building – Drawing with Oils

Learning to draw with a paint brush gives me a new appreciation for quality brushes. Many of my brushes are second hand from another artist. And the ones I have purchased were more of a guess about what I need than an informed decision.

Details:

• Measures: 12 x 12
• Medium: Oils, paper
• Availability: Original available
• Price: $85.00

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I now have a much better idea of what brushes I need, what to look for and why buying a few quality brushes is far more important than having a multitude of inexpensive brushes.

With the current technique I am learning with oils I put in my drawing, let dry for a few hours, then block in the base colors. The photos in this post are that first layer.

It does take a degree of patience to leave these first layers to dry overnight. In order to do that I have been drawing/blocking in up to 5 paintings at a time in order to build up a bit of inventory as it were.

It is really freeing to just sit and start several faces knowing I don’t have to really work them further than this point. And too enjoying the next step where I start making more commitments on a particular painting the next day.

Letting the face just sit gives my brain a chance to build the character / personality sub-consciously. Like writing a story over the course of several days. Or building a website.

And finally getting into the details and working the shadows and highlights and hits of unexpected color to really get that visual interest I feel I was lacking when painting all in one sitting with acrylics.