Portrait value study

I created this post to discuss how an artist can think technically about achieving an intended value key discussed in the previous post. This method helps to simplify an overwhelming number of values into a more workable structure at early stages of a painting (a digital one in this case). The loose renderings below are quick head studies from my imagination as they might be lit for dramatic and compositional purposes. I began with this basic head drawing which indicates some of the major…

from the Facebook page of Juan Jr Ramirez

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Steve Holland Doc Savage photo reference shoot for cover illustration.

quick value study trying to maintain a fluidity in the brushwork. oil on panel 6" x 8"

a study after Ramón Nuñez.Using a hard round brush with a bit of grain, laying in a drawing, laying in the planes and shapes, big to small. Relating and grouping the dark and light and all those kind of instinctual acts you afford to the moment. To breathe life into a painting, or so it feels. And eventually take a rake brush to play with the edges. I dip into that rhythm and feel like minutes have gone by, however it is 2:00AM and you contemplate a bowl of cornflakes. Then you fall asleep…

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