Acrylics General Theory Question

[combatartist]

Well guys, fall is on my mind, as is the MMSCI show. With this said, I have an acrylic painting question:
Q: What is the most common method to paint in acrylics (faces), midtone - highlights, then darks or midtones, dark, then highlights.? I ask this because I've seen some of the military mentor videos and the painter goes shadows/dark after midtones, then highlights. I also just saw the terrific Marion Ball YouTube video http://yt.cl.nr/TMDWfDkap0w (made a year ago) and she does the opposite. In both instances, the model was terrific. So is this a "If it works use it?" I'd like to get your opinions - I'm not trolling (my teenager just told me what that means...). I have posted this as a question below, hope this is correct Gordy.

Best Regards;

Tony S

 

[combatartist]

Fruedian slip: Miniature Mentor, not military mentor.

 

[housecarl]

I'm a Midtone - Highlight - shadow type of guy Tony.
Then I go back and adjust both to suit,
Carl.

 

[Portal]

I think it is a case of what works best. For me I always paint shades before highlights.

 

[John Bowery]

Tony,
I seems that you have found what is working for you. I think it comes down to the individual. Van Gogh versus picasso. The result is what counts.
Cheers
John

 

[captnenglish]

Mid-tone-shadow-highlight for me.

 

[Einion]

This is definitely a whatever works/individual preference kind of thing. The basic question of midtone in both directions, dark to light or light to dark has been talked about a few times on CMON and for people who don't work the same way for any colour the decision on which method to use is generally based on how dark or light the colour is.

So I think one or two additional options in the poll would have gotten a few clicks as a paler skin could easily be approached differently to a very dark skin (where it would be more common to paint up from the darks).

I'd normally paint faces the way I do most mid-range colours which is midtone, some shadowing, then most or all of the highlighting, then the darkest shadows (excluding final tweaks). For darker skintones I might start from a middle shadow or even dark shadow colour and work up.

Einion

 

[bagelman1952]

Midtone - shadows - highlights - I think

 

[ChaosCossack]

Mid- Hi- Shadow
I my head it works like this... The midtone is the base colour of the skin, it gives the "impression" of the colour or tone of the skin. The highlights give shape to the features of the face (or whatever part we're dealing with). The shadows are the effect of light on the sugject with respect to the shape of the surface and objects that will cast a shadow over the surface (ie hat brims/peaks, hair, collars, hoods etc). To my mind, that makes the final shadow an external effect more than a layer of the skintone... therefore, it's applied last and not just showing facial contours but shadows of the objects effecting the fall of light.

My longwinded way of saying... Mid- Hi- Shadow

Colin

 

[PaultheMilitaryModeller]

Hi

When painting it's supposed to be best to go lightest shade first then go progressively darker, as it's easier to paint a darker colour over a light colour, rather than the other way around.

Having said that I do tend to flout that rule and paint mid, then highs, then finally shadows.

Paul

 

[brian]

Paint in oils and you won't have this problem.
Brian

 

[Einion]

There's also the creep up on the final contrast way of working - midtone, first shadow, first highlight, medium shadow, medium highlights, deep shadow, light highlights. Anyone else tried that?

Einion

 

[bagelman1952]

Einion, that is a better description of the way I work. Does that make me a creep

 

[Helm]

B

Paint in oils and you won't have this problem.
Brian

But you will have lots of other really annoying ones ;-)

 

[Dave - LastCav]

I'm with Einion on this one - but really, whatever works...

 

[combatartist]

Thanks to all who replied to my question. I value all opinions and suggestions (even the oil paint promo I really liked the comment about if the face is light skinned or darker. This comment is one of those "ah ha" moments for me, and I suppose it is so obvious that I just didn't think of it. As an illustrator, I don't think about the process of painting a face, I just do it, knowing what I want it to look like. I use a LOT of reference when I do my illustrations, and I think I'm going to put together my own reference book on faces, by ethnicity and era, for me to look through before I start painting.

Thanks again;

Tony

 

[housecarl]

Slightly off topic, but these are both good, and inexpensive Tony.
http://www.amazon.com/Color-Mixing-Recipes-William-Powell/dp/1560108738
http://www.amazon.com/Color-Mixing-Recipes-Portraits-Combinations/dp/1560109904/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z
Carl.

 

[combatartist]

Thank you Sir! I have more color theory books than you can imagine! I'll keep all posted.


To honor those that serve through art.
www.tonystencel.com

 

[Einion]

I have more color theory books than you can imagine!

Not just for giggles on a free afternoon you should do a comparison to check for all the conflicting info

Einion

 

[Mark S]

I'm more a midtone - shadow- curse- go back and start again with midtone - then shadow again - then highlight- curse again- try to fix what I just did - then go back to shadow - then highlight whilst holding breath - curse - then put aside till later, kinda guy.