Hannah and Her Sisters

[Linda Brandon]

Hi Scott and Linda,

I'm really enjoying this discussion and seeing your work.

Scott, if you have the time, I for one would love to see a step by step demo of this technique. (I'm wondering if you're actually building up a bas-relief underpainting. Fascinating!) How about posting it in the "Portrait Demonstration" category:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/foru...?s=&forumid=86

Linda, I would love to see what you do with your paintings, they're beautiful.

[Scott Bartner]

Dear Linda B.,

I don't have the series of photos necessary to do a proper demo but I promise to document and post the next interesting commission I work on.

Posted below is the last of the (Linda B. dubbed) "Lavender" portraits. Notice the artistic licence I took on the River Woods logo.

[Scott Bartner]

Detail

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Hello Scott,

Thank you for posting some of your beautiful portraits and for the lengthy explainations you have given on this site. I have learned a lot from you already.

I have been working with the underpainting and glazing method for a while, but I have a lot to work out. My question for you is about the "highing up with white" on the underpainting. Perhaps I have missed something, but why not just paint the white when you are painting the underpainting with raw umber and white? I use raw umber and titanium white, perhaps it's because you want to use a more transparent white? Hmm, did I just answer my own question, is that the reason? If it is, could you explain why layering transparent white is more desirable than just globbing on opaque white. Guess that gets back to giving the painting depth? I will have to experiment with this. I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on this.

On another note, I lived in the Netherlands for 2 years from 1998-2000. We lived near Den Haag. It was a wonderful experience and I studied under an excellent portrait painter in Den Haag. But I do not miss the cold weather!

Dank U Viel (I hope that's close to thank you)

Joan

[Scott Bartner]

Dear Joan:

There are many sound ways to paint a portrait. Modeling the head in combinations of raw umber and white is the underpainting technique Karin Wells uses. She gives a good demonstration at this link:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...0&pagenumber=1

I begin a portrait by creating a drawing in burnt umber. Burnt umber has more red in it than raw umber playing a role in the next step, the highing up process. When the underdrawing is completely dry, I begin building it up with titanium and zinc white and various mixtures of the two. The point is that when the zinc white is applied thinly over the dry, dark, burnt umber shadow areas of the underdrawing, it turns bluish-purple. Then when the underpainting is completed, you are in a position to apply warm transparent glazes over a neutralizing cool underpainting. The optical shadows produced are quite believable. The trick is to get the underpainting shadows as cool as possible before you glaze so that you don