Painting figure faces with oils

[MrBMB]

Hi
Was just wondering if people here that paint faces in oils do it in one session??
Or do you let some of the oil dry and then come back and do other highlights and lowlights later

I normally do mine in one session which sometimes can take 3-4 hours which can be a little tiring sometimes

Just wanting to know what others do

Thanks

 

[MCPWilk]

I tend to paint the face one session, but come back and do the eyes once the paint has dried.

Mike

 

[polyphemus]

More than one session; paint the basic mid, high and shade tones first, let it dry for a couple of days and then hit the extreme highs & lows with wet on dry techniques which basically are very controlled washes blended out at the edges - this last phase is not dissimilar to basic acrylic painting techniques

Geoff

 

[brian]

Di

More than one session; paint the basic mid, high and shade tones first, let it dry for a couple of days and then hit the extreme highs & lows with wet on dry techniques which basically are very controlled washes blended out at the edges - this last phase is not dissimilar to basic acrylic painting techniques

Geoff

Ditto!!!To get the most out of painting faces in oils I reckon wet on dry is essential IMO.
Info for Mr BMB,if you want to keep your oil mix that you used for use later on stick it in the freezer and it'll last indefinately
Brian

 

[megroot]

More than one session; paint the basic mid, high and shade tones first, let it dry for a couple of days and then hit the extreme highs & lows with wet on dry techniques which basically are very controlled washes blended out at the edges - this last phase is not dissimilar to basic acrylic painting techniques

Geoff

Same here.

Marc

 

[swralph]

I usually paint the base shadows and highlights then over the next couple of hours decide if it needs more or less shadows highlights the last thing I do is the 5 o clock shadow

 

[MENTAL DENTAL]

Undercoat in acrylic, base oil and highlights only. Dry in oven. Lowlights and warm areas. Dry in oven. Upper eye line. Dry. Pupil dry. Then rework or add to highs and low as necessary.Total time <3hrs


David

 

[Helm]

Acrylic undercoat then layers wet blending,eyes first as a rule
Steve

 

[DEL]

More than one session; paint the basic mid, high and shade tones first, let it dry for a couple of days and then hit the extreme highs & lows with wet on dry techniques which basically are very controlled washes blended out at the edges - this last phase is not dissimilar to basic acrylic painting techniques

Geoff

Yep ........ way to go
And eyes first as Steve (Helm) says

 

[smudger1960]

I normally paint a face over 3 days,when painting with oils you'll always find some contrast has been lost the following day,after painting the whole face in one sitting I will then do the darker areas the next day and finally the highs on the 3rd day,what I would say is don't try and do too much in one session but break it down into sessions.

Brian

 

[Helm]

I find I've got a feel for how to paint the figure once the eyes clue me in on the face which in turn sets the tone for the rest of the sculpt
Steve

 

[Gra30]

I do one full session under the light, then revisit the next day in daylight to ensure opaque coverage and blending.
The eyes set it up for me as mentioned

 

[Mark S]

Brian's point about "when painting with oils you'll always find some contrast has been lost the following day,"is an important one to remember as well......I do the eyes last, just can't stand anyone watching me as I'm painting their face.

 

[yoshi]

For me too. In more sessions. Eyes first.

 

[ghamilt1]

Just to be contrary, (or to offer the view that there are more ways than one to skin a cat,)

I not ony paint in one session, acrylic base with oil shadows and highlights wet on wet, but I can get a face painted in under 2 hours. 2 and a half for busts. And I almost always do the eyes last.

 

[MrBMB]

I normally do the base flesh first then do eyes
I find painting around the white easier than trying to do eyes last

 

[arxo]

Newbie here. I am in my 4th bust with oils and to be honest it's what I love about oils in the first place, to paint flesh/faces...Went over a tone of youtube videos with fine art portrait painters, palletes, colors etc and still feel lost. But I love this feeling of 'fine-artistry' with the spatula and the pallete. My latest is turning up ok and I have no idea on how I even got there. Started by creating over 10 differents flesh tones with different mixes of yellow and red, using the spatula. Basecoated on acrylics and first thing was to aplly a middle tone of oils. Still can't figure the way some painters paint with oils, like enhance the shadows and lights with oil and the basecolor is still acrylic and it shows. I basicaly re-paint everything in oils. Then put it on a dry box for half-an-hour sessions, perhaps 3-4 or more, it depends, because I fear of longer periods under the lamp since they are resin. Then I paint shadows, midtones and lights trying to use more yellow on the forehead, more red on the cheeks etc. This time I used some green-grey with flesh for the beard. Dry box, paint, dry box, paint and so on until I feel happy about it. At some point magic happens and everything falls into place. But until this moment I feel it's cr@p!!! Mostly is wet on semi-dry and I still struggle with dillutions. Too runny, too chalky etc. I use white spirit and Liquin which I think gives a glossy result if you use too much (happened on the cloth). I agree that eyes give life to what you do. And they are for me the most difficult, because oils dry slow. One mistake and you repaint. And it takes days for me because I can only paint at nights, under a led round lamp that gives a cool white light and have another one with old yellow lamp to balance this. And I always find out what the hell it was I was doing on 02:00 a.m, the next day...

 

[garyhiggins]

My trouble is I paint too much like Monet and not enough like Milais! Ho Hum! on with the struggle
Gary.
P.S. Everyone talks of oils and acrylics, has no one tried Alkyds?