Using value and line in combination to arrive at a comfortable likeness: head shape, eyes and cheeks.

Throughout the course to date, I’ve focused on shapes, values and colours – blocking large spaces and moving toward the specific – if you like, “creeping up on a likeness”. I often say that my portraits are paintings first and that they then become portraits.

In the following video, I take the low-tone study which I started in lesson two, and develop it, following the general processes described in previous lessons as well as previewing a few points for the future:

A useful check before detailing features

A useful check that the layout is appropriate is to look at the relationship between the center of the eyes (the pupils) and the corner of the mouth. Everybody has a characteristic face layout, such as wide eyes and small mouth, long or short face:

Exercise

• This is worth a last check before you proceed into any detail with individual features. At the same time, this metric helps ensure that the face is appropriately positioned within the head shape itself.

Tips for eyes and cheeks

I could have said eyes, sockets, brows, cheeks, bridge of the nose and forehead. They all work together to give someone their “look”. As we have seen, I start by getting the large shapes and values right and then work the detail into this base. It’s difficult to be prescriptive at this stage because with some portraits, I like to leave the eyes mysteriously unfinished. With my painting “The Woodsman” one eye had a big abstract drip, essentially demolishing it. No one has had a problem with this!

Method

When finishing the eye and cheek area, the points I keep in mind are:

1. Look carefully at the shape of the eyes. Few people have “Almond eyes” with identical upper and lower lids – it’s the subtle differences in shape that count. With many people, the lower lid is flatter than the top, often more curve toward the inner area, particularly on the top lid. I always look for lights above the eyelid and also the degree of hooding.
2. I treat upper and lower eyelids differently. The problem is that when you circle something with a continuous line, it tends to separate that element from the surrounding area. That’s not always a good thing. I paint the upper lid with darks – there is often a shadow area in the eye with the upper lid effectively acting like a little shadow-umbrella. Conversely, the lower the lid is often light – perhaps catching a highlight or reflection.
3. I often connect the iris to the upper lid with the same dark value (sometimes leaving it like that – as above in The Woodsman). This approach gives a nice connected shape to continue to paint into.
4. I will often glaze transparent paint onto a dark base to give eye colour in the iris and pupil area, taking time, until I happen upon an effect I like. I typically have the work placed horizontally. In this process, I take as much paint off as I put on – it’s all part of the painting process!
5. Look to capture the shape and light of the cheekbone – it is an under appreciated opportunity to create likeness and drama!
6. Unless they are a prominent feature (as with the example below) I just suggest the eyebrows, focusing more on the shape of the eye socket than the line of the eyebrows.
7. As always, value contrasts are your friend!

Example

In order to see the progression that the eye area might take, let’s take a look at an example from a demo study – one that I then subsequently finished in studio:

Initial blocking:

Here are the results from the first session showing a general blocking of the eye area. Note that I’ve blocked in dark for the eye sockets, one mark defining the bridge of the nose from the lighter side. My brush is showing the edge of the cheek bone, limiting the socket. With the hooding of the eyelid, I put some focus on a prominent characteristic. The bushy eyebrows are quite blue. I think I just had blue on my brush and I wanted to make sure not to miss the drama.

Adding colour:

At this second stage, I’ve adjusted the darks whilst leaving the eyes essentially unchanged. Some expressive colour has been added for skin tones, with brush marks following the lead of the previous stage. Those eyebrows have been “de-blued”…the previous blue having done it’s job as a place marker.

Detailing the eyes:

For the final painting, I decided to leave the study somewhat sketchy – it was a demo after all – however I proceeded to paint out the eyes. My plan was that viewers would be intrigued by the rough study and then tarry looking into those eyes, without necessarily realizing that additional realism had been added.

The size of the eyes has grown (it rarely works to have features too small) and the iris and pupil are more defined, however note that they still blend into the gloom of the upper lid. The white of the eyes is in variegated grays – the “whites” of the eyes are never white! The reflected highlight is the only white, added at the last minute. Although I can’t be certain, I may have tried a couple of times to create the highlight and partially blotted the paint off, as I normally do – heavy-handed reflections can look false. In this case, I added some colour too: I like that block of red to draw you in…..and the blue of the eyebrows is back – but cooler!

Exercise

1. Pick two or three of your previous studies and assess eye shape, specifics of each shadow area and the cheek bones for application to future portraits. Perhaps experiment on the side with some charcoal.
2. Working with a new foundation painting of your own choosing (perhaps using the Reference Gallery), experiment with creating depth and shadow in the eye and cheek area with a minimum of detail.
3. Using one of your existing portrait studies or this new work, develop the eye area in consequence of the above experience.