Portraits
We had a class assignment to bring in a photograph with lighting contrast. Since I didn't have an existing photograph, I created one by experimenting with a light source on the side. Once I had a satisfactory photograph I used Photoshop to fill in the background with white, and made a new channel using a grid tile to add a grid to the image.
As an experiment, I printed out the grid and then rated each grid on a scale of 1 to 9 to match the grey scale gradient I had created in a previous class.
I have to say, they are all terrible, but its all part of the learning experience.
I created a pallet with the various shades of grey, I also prepainted the canvas with a medium grey as well. Once the surfaced had dried I drew the outline of my head freehand, filled it it with a lighter shade of grey and they attemted to copy my image by matching tones to the one I had identified in the corresponding grid area.
Portrait #1
Portrait #2
Portrait #3
For the third portrait, I used a little more Photoshop magic, I converted the color image to a grey scaled image and then posterized it to 9 levels, resulting in the following image
I also created a template for my head shape that I roughly outlined after pretreating the canvas, which I felt I did poorly in the first two. I am finding the two things that identify a person are the shape or outline of the faces and the eyes, the tiniest brush stroke in the eyes can make or break the the over all effect of the portrait.
Portrait #4
In the 4th portrait I tried adding a red curtain in the background to try and bring more contrast to the image. In this version I made a second posterized image, using 15 levels instead of 9. I also painted more slowly, allowing portions of the painting to completely dry before continuing. In these experiments I preferred painting in one sitting, excluding the canvas prep.
Portrait #5
In the 5th portrait, I am trying my first attempt at a color portrait. I think my skin tone came out a little too yellow. The initial color was made by mixing ochre yellow, titantium white, mars black and ultramarine (blue), subsequent tones were created by adding more titanium white or mars blank or by mixing intermediate tones (hues). My hair was made with burnt umbar mixed with the ochre yellow or mars black. My shirt is just mars black.
