order in painting faces

[godfather]

when painting faces in oils do you lay down the shadow tones first or basic skintone then add shadows.

 

[John Long]

My method is to apply the shadows and some deep shadows first and then the base flesh tones. After these are blended I apply the highlights to the wet base. I then go around the face and tweek areas that need attention ie. deep shadows and hi-highlights.

 

[Lou Masses]

I work in both directions.

Base Flesh
Eyes first (completely)
mid shadows and mid highlights
deep shadows and high highlights
Extreme shadows and highlights.
Catchlights if necessary

 

[Kisifer]

I use a different method for the face. I apply the deepest shadow to the whole face. Then with a soft brush i start wiping it out, cleaning the brush in every stroke. By doing that the face is left with the deepest shadow in place. Then i start adding white to that shadow color till i get the color that i like for my next tone. I keep adding white till i get to the extreme highlights which i add last.

 

[jjgurk]

I do pretty much the same as Lou, but then I'll wait 24 hours and add a final highlight touch.

 

[thegoodsgt]

I paint wet-on-wet, so this is my process:

Base color
Mid highlight
Mid shadow
Deep shadow
Blush under cheeks (the "pinkish hue" that George Costanza referred to in an episode of Seinfeld!)
High highlights

When all that is dry several days later, I paint the eyes last...yes, last.

 

[fkereki]

I use oils over an enamel base. My order:

Base color
Middle shadows (usually sepia, wet on wet)
Middle highlights (usually Naples yellow, wet on wet)
Darker shadows (sepia + umber)
Lighter highlights (maybe white)
Cheeks (a minimum red spot)

When it's dry, I do some glazes, for re-shadowing and re-highlighting.

 

[pkess]

I paint the eyes first. Since, for me this is the most difficult area of the face to paint. That way, if I screw them up I can repaint them without having to worry about the rest of the face. After the eyes are finished, I paint on the acrylic undercoat. I then paint an overall oil base color, followed by: shadows, deep shadows, highlights, light highlights. This is all painted wet on wet and blended after each step. After the face is completely dry, I repaint the deepest shadows and lightest highlights. The last things I paint are the lips and eyebrows.

 

[btavis]

Phil, when you do wet on wetwhat type of brush are using to blend (flat, bright, filbert)?

 

[Patrick Kirk]

Here is my technique; I paint on an acrylic undercoat first. Let that dry and hit it with a hairdryer to help speed up the process. Then I paint an overall oil base color, followed by highlights, shadows, deep shadows. Once I have the contrast between highlights and shadows, I then go back in and deepen the shadows and then appy the highest highlights. This is all painted wet on wet and blended after each step. After the face is almost dry, I repaint the deepest shadows and tips of the hightest highlights with an acrylic glaze...

OOOPS...eyes are last since it takes me freaking forever to get them right, and I usually use acrylics (since they erase easy).


Hope this helps

Patrick

 

[KeithP]

I love seeing how you guys all do this...

Me:

Acrylic Base
Eyes

Oil Base
All Wet on Wet
First Shadow
First High
Blush on cheeks, ear, nostrils

Let sit for a few hours
2nd shadow
2nd high
Deepen blush as needed
eyebrows
lips

Let dry for ~ 24 hrs and touch up deepest shadow and highest high (if needed) Go easy on the darn whites! No clown faces or pumpkin heads!

Gonna give that acrylic over dried oils a try...

Keith

 

[Patrick Kirk]

Good luck, Keith...they key I have found is to remember it's a glaze. Thin is good. You can always go over the highlight a couple times to get the effect you want rather than globbing it on...

Hope all is well

Patrick

 

[Bert Takken]

Weel
I painting a acrylic beige or orange brown base tone, then a very thin layer of the basic flesh, shadow, highligt, deeper shadow, 2nd higlight, then lips bluses etc. Then lets drying. After that the eyes
(I had to see how the faces looks so I can decided what color eyes and what position the iris, to complete the caracter oft he face)
Lets dry again, then checking highlights and give eyes some clear lack
Bert

 

[pkess]

Bob,
For blending on a face I use an older 000 bright that no longer has a sharp point. I can control the blending better then with a flat.
On larger areas, I use badger hair flats for blending.