Whitaker head painting demonstration

[William Whitaker]

The painting was dry Wednesday morning, thanks to the use of Raw Umber paint (a quick dryer) and the quick drying Graham walnut/alkyd medium. I continued to add patches of color, building shape and correcting form. My paint application is rich, but relatively thin. It is easier to blend if your wet paint isn

[William Whitaker]

Thursday I stopped to look at the model. I was chagrinned to see that the ear was in the wrong place, too big too high and the wrong shape. If I listened to my own advice, I

[William Whitaker]

Friday was my last day. I worked a bit longer than usual while some folks watched and some worked on their own paintings. This is the way the canvas looked when I took it home. The head is somewhat over 75% life size

[William Whitaker]

This is how it remains. The face is about 50% finished, the ear and hair about 20% along. It takes me around 16-24 hours to paint a head like this and bring it up to my current standard. I used to be a loose painter and got a lot more work done. I don

[William Whitaker]

Those of us who paint look at pictures differently than ordinary viewers. We like to get our noses up close to see brushwork and textures. That