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Session four of the elderly woman’s portrait
I put in the middle tones of her face today and left the darks for next week. Here is what I did in the two hours she sat.
Setting up the chair and the light
Where I put the sitter, where I put the easel and why I wait for the winter light before I start.
Mixing skin tones with a palette knife
Three piles of paint on a sheet of glass, and how I mix a warm, a cool and a shadow tone from them.
Quick face studies in my sketchbook
Ten-minute drawings of faces before I paint, and how they show me where the portrait will go wrong.
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The Sitting Letter
A short letter every Saturday: one painting session, one tip and one thing to try at your own easel.