William T Smith's Fine Arts | George Washington

Session 1

Having just finished a copy of the painting The Spirit of ‘76 by Archbald Willard I decided to do some reading on the American Revolutionary War. I am currently reading David McCullough’s book 1776 which is a non-fiction work based upon original letters and documents from that era. In his book Mr McCullough presents a thorough description and characterization of George Washington. As I have always wanted to do a painting of George, I began looking for something to copy.

I located two portraits of Washington painted by Constantino Brumidi, an artist I have never heard of before and found two of his paintings that I decided to use for my copy.

When I printed the image of the portrait I wanted to copy, it measured 4.5 x 5.5 inches. Both Brumidi’s portraits were in the oval form and I have an oval frame that would work that accepts a canvas that measures 16 x 20 inches with the oval size measuring 15 inches wide at the width by a height of 19 inches. In order to enlarge the original image I used the old master’s technique of drawing a graph over the image. I then took a piece of construction paper 16 x 20 inches and drew the same graph in proportion to the smaller graph on the original image. I cut just the oval out before I got ready to put the image on the canvas board. The original painting with the graph drawn over it and application of the enlarged image to the canvas board is shown in session 2. This is the end of session 1.

Session 2

This session shows the original painting with my graph drawn over it. I then transfer the drawing with light pencil that I did on construction paper shown in session 1 to the canvas board. The last image shows my final drawing darkened with gray oil paint to establish basic form.

Session 3

My goal in this session is to establish basic features starting with the eyes, face, and hair. Any portrait I attempt must begin with the eyes. I must be successful with eye location and size early on when corrections can still be made. Same is true for the other facial features. For me, obtaining a likeness is a very difficult task so I must leave room for corrections where necessary and develop the likeness slowly. Once satisfied with basic location of the features I put in middle tones that with constitute the flesh. The second photo is a close up of the face so far. This is the end of session 3.

Session 4

After the painting has totally dried, I continue to slowly develop the facial features keeping the paint thin. I scrub in a background with burnt sienna and burnt umber keeping the paint the lightest over the figure’s left shoulder. This is just a ground coat as there will be multiple layers or glazes applied to the background. Since I traced the oval opening from the frame to the canvas, I make sure to paint beyond the oval line so no gaps will show on the canvas when the painting is put in the frame. This is the end of session 4.

Session 5

After leaving the face to dry from session 4 it is my intention to develop other elements such as the uniform, cape, and ascot. My goal in this session is to put down “dead color”………that is, a preliminary layer of paint to establish form and basic color. Using Naples yellow with some burnt sienna I scrub in the lapels and collar. I added a layer of ultramarine blue with shades of gray and black for the uniform and ivory black with some gray for the cape. For the epaulet and buttons I used Naples yellow , burnt sienna, and yellow ochre. I made sure to cover the oval all around the edge so that no spaces show when the painting goes into the frame. So far I used no medium to mix and blend the paint only a little turpentine.

After the entire painting dries I will continue on to better develop form and final color values. This is the end of session 5.

Session 6

This session involved adding a layer of raw umber to the background with a bit of yellow ochre to slightly lighten the area just above his left shoulder. I also applied another layer of ultramarine blue over the jacket. I also worked the ascot and neck area with shades of gray leaving lighter white highlights to be added later. Next session will include working the epaulet, buttons, and lapels. This is the end of session 6.

Session 7

In this session I worked the neck wrapping, lapels, and epaulet. I also added another layer of ultramarine blue. I also roughed in the buttons. This is the end nd of session 7.

Session 8

I spent this session adding highlights to the hair, lapels, epaulet and buttons. I needed to correct the cape slightly by softening the folds. I also put another layer of black/burnt umber over the cape and carefully added highlights to the forehead. Lastly, I reworked the ascot and neck wrap to enhance detail. I will let this dry thoroughly and give it one last look to see what improvements might be made and then sign it. This is the end of session 8.

Session 9

After making a few adjustments to the tunic and adding slight highlights to the hair I signed the painting in the lower left corner. I based the painting on a painting of George Washington by Constantino Brumidi an Italian artist who came to the United States in 1854. He is best known for his painting of murals in the halls of the US Capital building now known as the Brumidi Corridors.

Once my painting had thoroughly dried I added two layers of Damar varnish. I put the painting in an antique frame I acquired many years ago. This is the end of session 9 and the end of this project.