anatomy of an oil painting

Anatomy of an oil painting

In this document I show the development of an oil painting from initial sketch to finished piece. This particular painting is of a veiled

woman with heavily kohled eyes crying, looking intensely at the viewer. The painting is a smallA4 size piece on stretched canvas

and took about three hours work from beginning to end. The photos enclosed are

taken on a handheld compact and are not of professional quality but do show quite clearly

the development of the image


First a sketch of the subject matter is drawn out with brush and heavily thinned oil paints with some areas roughly blocked in. I have used natural colours applied quickly to give an idea of the tonal values and composition before I commit to applying any thicker coats.


Further areas are blocked in and some more detail applied to prepare the canvas for more exacting application of paint.


Here I begin to tidy up a little and put in the first suggestion of skin tones.The painting is beginning to take shape and with this foundation I can begin to work on detail and colour correction.


Now I add further soft skin tones and add detail to the eyes.The bridge of the nose is lifted and highlighted with soft tones.


Here I have begun to block in the veil colour and added fine detail to the left eye,also I have added some shadow to the skin tones.


Here I have added tone lighter and darker tones to the veil and worked some more on the black around the eyes.


The veil has had further modelling and the skin tones refined,The last part of the process is adding highlights , tidying up here and there and putting in any darker areas of shading.


This is the finished piece with the forehead henna tattoo added, the eyes tidied up and highlighted anda finishing touch of the brush applied here and there.The trick here is to put


the brushes down before the piece is overworked.

Now to frame and sell!

anatomy of an oil painting

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