12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 1/39

HomeNew? Start HereAcrylicsOilsDrawingColourFree VideosArt Courses

Absolute Beginners Drawing CourseUrban Sketching for Beginners CourseThe Essential Guide to Sketching the LandscapeHow to Draw Light & Shade for BeginnersAbsolute Beginners Acrylic Painting CourseSimple Colour Mixing CourseHow to Paint Acrylic Portraits CourseBeginners Acrylic Impressionistic Seascape CourseStill Life Master Class in Acrylics – ReflectionsOil Portrait CourseArt Bookstore

AboutAbout Will7 Painting Principles

Contact

will kemp art school

How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2by Will Kemp

in oil painting, portraits

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 2/39

How to paint a black & white portrait in Oils a Step by Step approach

In this series of 5 posts I am going to look at the process of how to tackle painting a black & whiteportrait using oil paints.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 3/39

So when you come back to your painting the next day, it’s a good time to reassess the drawing and haveanother look at the tones…

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 4/39

What we’re going to do to start with, is to strengthen the background and shadow tones, still using justthe Raw umber.Because Raw umber is a quick drying pigment it still sits in the principle of fat­over­lean but to makesure, we’re going to add some Linseed oil to our Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS) to create our paintmedium.

Mediums in Oil Paint

A medium is something added to the paint whilst mixing colours on the palette. Different artists vary

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 5/39

greatly in their preferred choice of mediums. Mediums can help with blending, glazing, brush techniquesand the handling qualities of the oil paint.

Mixing Raw umber for this layer

For this Raw umber part of the demonstration we will be using a very simple mix of OMS and refinedLinseed oil, 1 part linseed oil : 4 parts mineral spirits

To add the oil to the OMS I use a pipette. They make it easy to judge exact proportions and help keep aclean working environment.

The one thing to remember with medium is less is more, you only need such a small amount of itotherwise you find yourself chasing the paint around the canvas instead of being able to scrub it in.

Refined Linseed Oil : made from the seeds of the flax plant. It adds gloss and transparency to paints andis available in several forms. It dries very thoroughly, making it ideal for underpainting and initial layersin a painting. Refined linseed oil is a popular, all­purpose, pale to light yellow oil which dries withinthree to five days.

Step 9 – Strengthening the Shadows

I now dip my brush in the medium, then take the excess off on kitchen roll until the brush is damp but notwet. I then paint on slightly thicker layer of paint over the hair to reinforce the tones – the darkest darkand get closer to the reference photo.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 6/39

I’ve also reinforced the shadow line on the side of the face and under the chin, this was using the size 4Ivory Filbert, notice how I haven’t blended the edge yet due to the scale of the portrait being quite small.I will swap to a Sable to have more control and dry brush and fuse the edge.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 7/39

Step 10 – Adding more darks on the features

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 8/39

So now squint your eyes at your painting and the reference photo and still think of simple shapes, don’tget hung up on trying to paint the details – just concentrate on the shadow shapes, and look for the areasof the darkest dak around the portrait.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 9/39

I’ve now added the Raw umber around the eyes, top lip and the neck, using a smaller, Round brush.These are the areas that need to go darker, it’s at this point you can check your drawing again.

It’s natural to feel that you might be going in too dark at this stage but feel confident that we haven’t usedblack paint yet, so there is still another tonal step available to us.

Step 11 – Strengthening the background

Now using a slightly thinner consistency, I paint over the background again. Notice how the paint colourappears warmer in tone because of the warmer underglow coming through.Paints always look warmer in a thin layer and always go cooler as soon as you add white. Although thisis a very simple point, it can be key in getting the most out of each pigment, rather than jumping to use anew colour.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 10/39

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 11/39

Then, using a size 10 Ivory Filbert, I gently unify the tone to get rid of brush marks and fuse the edgebetween the hair and the background.

Step 12 – Introducing the Lights

“Most objects can be reduced broadly into three tone masses, the lights (including the highlights), the half tones, and the shadows. And the habit of reducing things into a simpleequation of three tones as a foundation on which to build complex appearances should earlybe sought for”Harold speed, The Practice and Science of Drawing

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 12/39

A note aboutunderpainting white with acrylic paint

Pro tip: In this demonstration I under paint the lights with oil paint. However, if I’m working to a tightdeadline and the ground has been prepared with an acrylic gesso there is another option that you canwork an underpainting with acrylics.

Be careful not to paint too thickly or you will have a plastic resist to the oil paint, notice in part 1 how thecoloured ground was applied thinly so the oil could still adhere to the canvas.

3 Different kinds of White

Flake white – This is a lovely white that brushes out nicely and has a nice flexibility in the paintfilm. It is also a quick drier compared with Titanium white, so is useful for under paintings. Thismakes it a great white for mixing subtle tones when working with a full palette for oil portraits asyou can shift the colour, yet still work in semi opaque layers to develop the skin tones.

It has a semi­opaque finish and is the least white of the white. For finishing highlights, or a really brightwhite, Titanium white is a better choice.

For this tutorial it is not as important and you could use a Titanium white for the whole way through.This way you can get used to using thicker, more opaque colours that will help you to understand thebasics of painting, rather than getting obsessed with the subtleties of glazing.

Titanium white – I find this is the most opaque and bright white, it is a slower drier than Flakewhite and is very thick when it first comes out of the tube.

Pro tip: I often mix my Titanium white with OMS just to create a more flexible and free flowingconsistency, I then keep a small blob of the pure white for adding the thickest, brightest highlights.

Zinc white – Another semi­opaque white used for mixing and subtle­tinting of colours, Ipersonally don’t use this much in my paintings.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 13/39

Lead based pigments:

The perception that “oil paints are hazardous” comes from the use of lead based pigments.

Until the beginning of the 20th Century, lead whites were the only opaque white pigments available, Zincwhite was available but had more transparency and a tendency to dry slowly, so was hard to paintthicker, solid colour.

In the mid 1920’s non­toxic Titanium White was introduced and gave artists a non­toxic alternative. Sohistorically, painters have been exposed to much higher levels of toxic pigments than modern daypainters.

However, some artists continue to use lead white because of its interesting working properties. LucienFreud loved it so much he bought it in bulk, fearful Cremnitz white was going out of production.

A note about Lead Whites

Flake White No. 1Cremnitz WhiteFoundation White.

Lead white has been used traditionally by the Old Masters, and as such is often viewed in high regard.However due to the toxic nature of this paint it is often only available in tins and recently has had issueswith health and safety.

They are fast drying and offer a high degree of flexibility and as a result they are often used for portraitwork.

Specifically, Flake White No. 1 has a creamy consistency and handles really well.

Cremnitz White is ideal for achieving sculptural effects thanks to it unusual almost stringy consistency.

Foundation White is a traditional lead based white, ground in Linseed Oil which thanks to its fast dryingrate, is ideal for priming.

Please Note: Disposal of the lead waste from the painting process can be problematic. Throwinglead out with your regular rubbish is against the law.

Lead paint, the tubes it comes in, cloths and any solvent used for cleaning when working with lead,are considered hazardous waste and have to be disposed of at hazardous waste sites.(see comments below)

I’ve also seen that Gamblin produce a flake white alternative that is non toxic. I haven’t personallyused it but will look into doing a comparison post in the future.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 14/39

Drying rates of oil paints

Oil paints that are slow driers should be avoided in the underpainting as it breaks our number 1 rule of‘fat over lean’. When a faster­drying layer is painted over the top it will pull apart from the underpaintingwhich contracts and gets smaller when it dries.

When working with the lights you need an underpainting with a quick drying white. You could useAlkyd (quick drying oils), an underpainting white or, as I am using in this demonstration a Flake white.

When you are painting with a range of colours on your palette, the different drying rates of the oil paintsare not as noticeable because you are constantly intermixing them. However, for the technique we areusing so far, building up the painting in progressive layers, you need to be aware of the drying times ofthe pigments you are using.

How to speed up the drying rate

White (especially Titanium white) takes longer to dry than Raw umber.

If you are working on the underpainting and want the oil paints to dry quicker, you need to add asiccative.

A siccative is the name for a drying agent mixed in with the paint.

Traditionally in classical painting, cobalt driers where often used to accelerate the drying time of oilpaint. Using a pipette you can just add a couple of drops of cobalt drier to your paint.

Mixing White for this layer

You’ve got 2 choices, if time isn’t an issue, mix your white as we did before in Part 1 with a little OMS,this way it will take a little bit longer to dry .

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 15/39

Alternatively, if time is an issue you can add a siccative.

For the initial white layer of the painting, I do add a siccative and the siccative I am using is Liquin. Sowhat I do is mix a small amount of Liquin with the Flake white until it has a buttery consistency.

Please note: I don’t add any OMS or Linseed Oil.

Liquin speeds up the drying by about 50 percent.

Notice how on the whites I block in the mix doesn’t completely cover the coloured ground.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 16/39

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 17/39

With the white I am just painting the light side of the portrait, the lightest lights, leaving the colouredground exposed on the right side of the portrait.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 18/39

With the smaller round sable, I add lights around the eyes, I’m trying to establish a tonal range betweenthe darkest darks and the lightest lights so I will be able to judge the next step easier when we mix ourcolour strings. Don’t worry if it’s not 100% accurate it is just a thin veil of paint to help our eyes judgetone.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 19/39

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 20/39

Step 13 – Softening the Lights

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 21/39

On this stage of the painting I have softened the white edges on the face so again. I don’t have any sharplines and notice once we are at this stage I then have gone in heavier to make the white on the T­shirt more opaque as I am more confident in matching the tonal value.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 22/39

Tweet Ibahagi 2

Great work! next week we can start to mix colour strings and model the form of our portrait.

Tune in next week for stage 3.

Happy painting!

You might also like:1. How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 12.How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 33. Choosing a Basic Palette for Portraits

Share this:

49 comments… read them below or add one

David A. April 13, 2012

Hi Will,

I notice that when I squint my eyes at your painting, I see only two colors. Is that how the coloredground is supposed to look? When I do that the raw umber looks way to dark.

David A.

Reply

Will Kemp April 13, 2012

Hi David,Yes that’s right. Often when you first start painting it is a real tendency to try and getworking on the details too soon.

If you squint your eyes at the subject you are working from and then your painting you cansee if the simple tone masses are working.

If the painting is working in it’s basic tones, when you add the details it will be a lot moreeffective.

Thanks,Will

Reply

13Share 207 More

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 23/39

susy April 14, 2012

Greetings Will,Thank you for your lovely blog, I have learned so much. I am very new to oil painting and waswondering regarding Flake White, what is the safest way for disposal because of the lead content?eg. the paper palette or OMS/Linseed residue (if you make a medium with the two to dip yourbrush into whilst painting)

Reply

Will Kemp April 14, 2012

Hi Suzy,

Glad you are enjoying the blog, great question about the disposal of lead.

It can vary depending on country. I collect any residue and store in a resealable, heavyweightplastic container (a thick tupperware) and then, every few months, I drop it off with a localwaste collection firm that deal with hazardous waste.

I had an account with the waste management company when I was running our gallery so itdidn’t seem too much hassle, alternatively you can drop it off at a local approved councildisposal facility, the container needs to be marked as containing hazardous waste “LeadContaminated – Poisonous”.

But I can see as a beginner this might seem a bit off­putting if you just want to get startedwith oils!

For the rest of the painting I will be using Titanium white so using flake white is definitelynot essential. (I just wanted to show exactly how I personally work)

An alternative to flake white is to underpaint with a quick drying Alkyd paint or anothernon­toxic paint.

I’ve also seen that Gamblin produce a flake white alternative that is non toxic. I haven’tpersonally used it but will look into doing a comparison post in the future.

From the Gamblin website:

Gamblin Flake White Replacement: The first true nontoxic alternative to FlakeWhite. It’s the leanest of the Gamblin whites and a terrific underpainting white.Its beautiful opalescent quality is of special interest to portrait painters. FlakeWhite Replacement has all the working properties of traditional Flake White:long ropey stroke, warm color, translucency and short brush mark. Not onlydoes our FWR come without the lead but it also doesn’t suffer from the fastdrying time of traditional formulations, which contributes to the cracking of oilpaintings over time

Hope this hasn’t scared you off! thanks for the great question, hope this has helped,

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 24/39

Will

Reply

susy April 14, 2012

Thank you so much for the insightful information, Will! It would be wonderful if you could do acomparison post one of these days. I’ve been using Titanium with seemingly good results, andhave been curious about the touted Flake…

One additional question, have you ever used the newer water mixable oils that have come about?(My laziness in clean­up asks this of you.)

Thanks kindly & cheers from abroad! (NYC)

Reply

Will Kemp April 14, 2012

Hi Susy,

You’re welcome, I have used the water mixable Oils but found they didn’t have the pigmentstrength or quality that artist quality Oils have.They do have the advantage of an easy clean up but lack the qualities of Oil paint I love somuch.

Hope this helps and I’ll try and review those as well!

Will

Reply

susy April 14, 2012

thanks kindly!

Reply

Caoilainn June 8, 2012

Hello, I have recently started painting. I bought linseed oil to thin paints. I hear the danger from oilsoaked rags, bit what about a painting with linseed oil on it. Is it equally combustible? What wouldbe the proper storage for a painting while drying with linseed on it? Thank you for the info..

Reply

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 25/39

Will Kemp June 10, 2012

Hi Caoilainn,

Thanks for the comment, your painting will be absolutely fine.

It’s the combination of a confined space and large surface area of a pile of rags that canmake rags combustible.

As the oil oxidises (begins to dry out) the linseed oil goes through an exothermic reaction –this is a chemical reaction that gives off heat.

So, the more rags the quicker the temperature can rise.

When there is a pile of rags the oil begins to oxidise, giving off heat, the more oil, the greaterthe chance the temperature may eventually become hot enough to combust.

I say may because you would have to have an excessive amount of oil to cause such areaction.

What would be the proper storage of an oil painting?

Ideally you want some airflow and the painting turned out towards the light, but not in directsunlight. This helps to lessen the yellowing effect of the linseed oil on your painting. (thebetter quality paints you use the less effects of yellowing) try to find a storage area that doesnot have excessive levels of cold, heat, moisture, or dryness.

Hope this helps,Will

Reply

Juan June 12, 2012

Will, your tutorials are fairly easy to follow and highly informative! I find myself shaking my headevery time I come across your “beginners mistakes / errors” because I can relate. It’s as if you’retalking directly at me… I already notice a difference with your method as I just finished part 1! AMillion Thanks!!

I have one question though do you trace your reference photo or is it freehand?

­Juan

Reply

Will Kemp June 12, 2012

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 26/39

Hi Juan,

Thanks for your kind comments, pleased that the posts are helpful in your painting. I’vefreehand drawn this portrait using the sight­size method to draw it out. You can of coursetrace or grid out when getting started as the painting will be tricky enough! However, whendrawing out you really get to know the shapes and the face, this way it helps you when youcome to do the painting because you are more accustomed to it. Just as using the burntumber helps you to see the shapes and make adjustments at an early stage rather than goingin with full colour straight away.

Hope this helps,

Will

Reply

Juan June 12, 2012

Well done. I hope I eventually get confident / comfortable with sight­size method andpainting­in the sketch in place of pencil.

Thanks.­Juan

Reply

Jeannie Joseph September 30, 2012

Thanks for this most informative tutorial, So well written and explained.

Reply

Will Kemp September 30, 2012

You’re welcome Jeannie, are you going to give a black & white portrait a go?

Will

Reply

Jeannie Joseph September 30, 2012

I have painted a few B/W portrait with much success but I did not implement anyinstruction…I winged it. However after looking through your tutorial several times Iwill no doubt improve even more.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 27/39

Reply

Will Kemp September 30, 2012

Great to hear it Jeannie, often one slight tweak can make a big difference inportraits,

Thanks,Will

Reply

Arta March 23, 2013

Hi! Thank you for your tutorial, it’s very helpful! Just a question; should you leave the painting todry after darkening the shadows and before painting with white?

Reply

Will Kemp March 23, 2013

Hi Arta,

Pleased you’ve been finding the portrait tutorial helpful, when painting in the white youdon’t have to wait for the painting to dry before adding the white.

Cheers,Will

Reply

Kieran March 31, 2013

Hi Will, me again! Are you using the acrylic raw umber here again? Or have you switched to oil. Ididn’t think medium was used with acrylic..

Kieran

Reply

Will Kemp March 31, 2013

Hi Kieran, for this specific portrait demo I used acrylics for the coloured ground only andthen work with oils throughout.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 28/39

Cheers,Will

Reply

Jose April 15, 2013

Hi Will,I’m Jose. I’m from Barcelona­Spain.First thanks for all your help!I have on question:HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD ELAPSE MORE OR LESS BETWEEN SESSIONS?Thanks again for your time and congratulations for your success

Reply

Will Kemp April 16, 2013

Hi Jose,

pleased you’ve been enjoying the tutorials, the time scale varies depending on if you areadding an Alykd medium to the oils & the thickness of the oils, but if you’re painting quitethinly you should be able to start each stage the next day. if you are using quick dry oils youcan sometimes move onto the next stage the same day.

Hope this helps,Will

Reply

Dylan Alliata June 11, 2013

Great tutorials. One comment in the United States there is no law against mixing hazardous wastein domestic trash. It is exempt under the Resource Recovery Act. Don’t know the situation inEurope. So if you dump lead based paint in your trash your not a nice person for doing it but yournot a criminal in the U.S.

Reply

Will Kemp June 12, 2013

Hi Dylan,Thanks for the note for any US readers.

Cheers,

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 29/39

Will

Reply

David Smith June 18, 2013

Hello Will,

I’m having a bash at this. So far so good.

Working on part 3 at the moment. I’m using Winsor & Newton Artisan oils (the water mixableones). Painting on a piece of thick card about 8″ high primed with 2 coats acrylic gesso painted onrelatively thickly to give a bit of tooth.

I often use thick paper or card for practising on. Because its cheaper it takes the fear factor out ofwasting a good canvas.

I roughed in the initial stages with W & N hogshair but switched to nylon filberts for the drybrushing. They are definitely not as soft as your ivory brushes!

Medium is the water mixable linseed and the Artisan thinner. I could have used water to thin butdecided on the thinner to keep it more like normal oils.

For parts one and two I used zinc white with a drier. I found the zinc white handy because its semiopaque and allows you not to overdo the brightness. For the next part I’m going for the titaniumwhite.

I noticed how you vary the tone of the background leaving some parts more covered than others. Imissed this at first but then just rubbed the paint back a bit to lighten it.

I would recommend the water mixable oils to anyone like myself you lacks space and ventilationfor conventional oils. Its less bother cleaning brushes too.

Although they may not have the pigment strength or quality they are still pretty good and have agreater saturation than acrylics.

Cheers

David

Reply

Will Kemp June 18, 2013

Hi David,

Thanks for the review of the tutorial using the water­mixable Oil paints, as space andventilation can be a common issue when tackling traditional Oils.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 30/39

Looking forward to seeing how you get on in the next parts.

Cheers,Will

Reply

Brad January 15, 2014

Will, I just wanted to drop a line and say Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I’ve alwaysstayed with pencil because it was “comfortable” and I knew how to work it. But recently I’vedipped into color and the world’s opening up now in a vivid way. Though there are a million waysto be taught, I know “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. So I choose to learn how the old masterslearned……..the right way. Thanks again you’ve helped me beyond measure.

Reply

Will Kemp January 16, 2014

Hi Brad,

Nice to hear from you and do pleased you’ve found the articles helpful in making that stepfrom pencil into colour. It can feel like you’re going backwards to start with when you’refirst using colour, but just take it a step at a time and you’ll be away!

Cheers,Will

Reply

Bernadette February 10, 2014

Hi! I am absolutely thrilled to have come across this tutorial! Thank you for taking you time andbeing so dedicated. I’ve never painted a portrait before. .so Im excited to experiment. I have burntumber will that be fine to use?Thanks againSincerely,Bernadette

Reply

Will Kemp February 10, 2014

Hi Bernadette, yes that will work as well, you’ll just have a slightly warmer feel to thepainting.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 31/39

Cheers,

Will

Reply

Bernadette February 10, 2014

Thanks for the quick reply!

Reply

Will Kemp February 10, 2014

You’re welcome Bernadette,Cheers,Will

Reply

Abigail March 20, 2014

Hi Will, thanks for this in­depth series. It’s very helpful to see the complicated process brokendown into such simple steps.

I was wondering if you could address the differences between painting from a photograph, asyou’ve done here, and painting from life. I was taught not to work from photos, except asreferences later, and to focus on drawing from life. Do you work from live models? How is yourprocess of refining/finishing different in that case?

Also, in the future, I would love to see a blog series on the next steps: glazing with color on top ofgrisaille! Thanks again, lovely stuff.

Reply

Will Kemp March 24, 2014

Hi Abigail,

Pleased you’ve found the portrait series helpful, it all depends on the sitter, situation and thestyle of painting you’ve after. I work from life and from photographs and enjoy workingfrom both.

Cheers,

Will

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 32/39

Reply

andrew kateregga April 22, 2014

thanks will i wd like 2 appreciate the work you are trying to do be blessed by the almighty byAndrew, portrait painter uganda kampala.

Reply

Will Kemp April 23, 2014

Thanks Andrew, pleased you’re enjoying it.Will

Reply

angello April 24, 2014

thanks will… Ama so glad wit dz ur painting tutorial, am a Nigerian, though am nt new to oilpainting in portraituring, bt wud like to understand sumtns… Wen paintin colored portraitures, canflesh tint be used as a replacement of white in representation of light?……….thanks …awosola angello

Reply

Will Kemp April 24, 2014

Hi Angello, pleased you’ve been enjoying the portrait tutorial. If you where to introduce aflesh tone you would also introduce it in the shadows aswell.Cheers,Will

Reply

ella July 9, 2014

ps. does my stage one need to be completely dry before my stage 2?

Thanks! Ella

Reply

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 33/39

Will Kemp July 12, 2014

Yes, it will work best of it’s dry.

Cheers,Will

Reply

Jeanean Songco Martin November 10, 2014

Hello Will, I enjoyed your demo very much. very informative. may I use one of your images whichshows the grisaille. I am putting together a power point for my students for educational purposesonly. no reproduction

thank you, Jeanean

Reply

Will Kemp November 10, 2014

Hi Jeanean, pleased you enjoyed the demo, absolutely, you’re welcome to share the imageswith your students.Cheers,Will

Reply

Archana January 14, 2015

Hello Will, Please dont mind me keeping you bothered with a series of questions.

So this stage would again see me mixing Flake white with a little OMS only. And the umber I mixwith Linseed and OMS as mentioned. Am I right?

Also, now i see in 1 of your comments, it is stated that exposure to direct sunlight would causeyellowing? Is that so?? On finishing the Stage 1, I had it exposed to direct sunlight for quickerdrying. was i wrong in this?? I was hoping to do the same for the following stages as well. Butbecause the following stages use Linseed oil, would you advise me from exposing direct sunlight?? Please advise on this.

And thanks soo much Will for all the help you provide through this medium

Reply

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 34/39

Will Kemp January 15, 2015

Exposure to sunlight will help prevent yellowing, the comment on keeping the paintings outof direct sunlight was in reference to the question ‘What would be the proper storage of anoil painting?’.Cheers,Will

Reply

Archana January 16, 2015

Thank you so much Will.

Reply

Jay January 16, 2015

Hi Will,So does sunlight help in helping reduce cracks?i find this page very very useful. great job! Kudos to u!!I have just begun working on a B&W portrait and I am not sure if I am religiously following the‘fat over lean’ – – lest I neither go with thin over fat. I am keeping them uniform, meaning my oilcolors (Umber, black and White) with just a little turpentine. Would this be fine? Or lead to cracks.I do have Linseed with me, would you advise to go ahead and add it in the steps following.Could you please let me know on how to avoid the cracking?

Reply

Will Kemp January 17, 2015

Hi Jay, the sunlight won’t help reduce cracks, cracks are all to do with the Fat over Lean rulewhen working in layers to keep the lower layers of the painting drying more quickly than thehigher layers, I would definitely recommend adding in linseed oil to your medium for thenext layers.Cheers,Will

Reply

monika April 7, 2015

Thank you VERY VERY much for your tutorial. I painted my husband as described in your lesson.His portrait looks like a photograph of himself. Everybody likes it.

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 35/39

Reply

Will Kemp April 8, 2015

Good one Monika, really pleased your portrait of your husband turned out well, thanks forletting me know.Cheers,Will

Reply

Leave a Comment

Name *

E­mail *

Website

Submit

Notify me of follow­up comments by email.

Previous post: How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 1

Next post: How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 3

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 36/39

I'm Will Kemp, I'm an award­winning professional artist and teacher.I've studied in Italy, run my own art gallery, taught in museums & schools and I'm going to sharemy professional art secrets with you.

Get updates (it's free)Get free tips, videos & techniquesdelivered right to your inbox

Enter Name here

Enter Email here

ONLINE ART COURSES

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 37/39

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 38/39

12/3/2015 How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2

http://willkempartschool.com/how­to­paint­a­portrait­in­oil­part­2/ 39/39

Will Kemp Art School channel

willkempartschool72 videos

Subscribe 61K

TOPICS

acrylic painting (67)colour theory (12)drawing (18)oil painting (15)painting (12)portraits (14)

Popular Posts

New – Urban Sketching For Beginners Drawing Course is Live!An Art Material Addicts Guide to becoming a Minimalist SketcherUrban Sketching Tutorial for BeginnersInside Rembrandt’s StudioNew Landscape Sketching Course is LiveHow to Paint a Cornish Harbour in Acrylics – Video TutorialPainting, Pasties & Padstow – A Cornish Painting trip

Get smart with the Thesis WordPress Theme from DIYthemes.