This is the pencil sketch I did this week. Today I’m painting the portrait with only shades of gray. It’s a good value study and depending on how it turns out, I may leave it in shades of gray and not add color…..don’t know yet. I’m working from photos. Will send you session # 2 later. Still working on Darwin…….he needs to dry some more. This is the end of Session # 1.
In this session I wanted to establish darks and light tones. After this dries I will concentrate more on middle tones as the portraits looks too ragged….more blending will also be needed. I roughly darkened in the background and quickly painted in the shirt. So far I am leaning toward leaving the painting in B/W and not attempt flesh tones. This is the end of Session #2.
During this session I made some minor changes to the shape of the face. I also added a few highlights to the hair. Mainly I worked on the jacket on the right side. I will work it more in the next session to get the texture of wool. I started to correct the shape of the collar. This is the end of Session #3.
In this session I filled in the left side of the jacket. I need to correct some of the values in the jacket in the next and future sessions. I also added a second button. I located a dark frame that I intended for a different painting but I may keep it for Einstein as I like the way it looks. I did work not on the face or hair in this session. This is the end of session #4.
In this session I mainly worked the jacket to even out the tones and to add the highlights resulting from the light emanating from top and slightly behind. I also added some highlights to the hair and defined the hair on the left side of the face. I put in subtle highlights in the forehead. Once this session dries I will reevaluate any other changes that will need to be made. This is the end of session #5.
In this final session I put in a few highlights, added another background layer and signed in the lower left corner. Overall I’m happy with the result although I noticed that the portrait progressed much faster in black and white than it perhaps would have in color. I am naming it “THINK”…….. since Einstein was one of the greatest “thinkers” of the 20th century and perhaps because I consider that one word to be excellent advice…….no matter what situation we may face……..we are always benefited to ” think it through” first……… Once it totally dries I will add a layer of varnish. This is the end of the Einstein project.