It is finally time to get this portrait started. I am painting a double portrait, working in acrylics on a 14 x 18 inch canvas. My reference is a vacation photo of the couple, riding a motorbike in Greece (wearing helmets and sunglasses). Back in December, I worked on a pencil sketch as preparation, to learn the faces. (The pencil sketch is posted here, December 14, 2016.) I am pretty happy with the sketch, and had managed to work out placement issues and the position of the two helmets. The pencil sketch is about the same size as the canvas, so I decided to use it to jump start the painting. I put a big piece of graphite paper over the blank canvas, and then positioned the pencil sketch over it. I then went over the main lines of the portrait, using a pencil with Scotch tape over the tip (so I wouldn't make marks on the sketch). When I was finished, I had some very light marks on the canvas. They were hard to see, but the position of the figures, helmets, and main features were pretty much there. Then I did more drawing on the canvas with pencil, to make the lines and marks easier to see where I was. Then I switched to some pale brown acrylic paint, and started painting over the marks. That was a much as I had time to do. I think it helped to start this way, but even so, portrait painting is a struggle. But I am looking forward to it, and happy to be getting underway.
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