You Are Ready for your painting in color, so turn to the green key palette pictured in color, page 42. Set your palette with these same hues, starting with white, yellow ochre, cadmium red light, and viridian. (Add the others as needed.) With these four basic colors all the flesh tones in this present portrait were painted. The white is mixed into the other colors a very little at a time.

Don't work from tiny smudges of paint. Use a liberal quantity so that you will not constantly have to re-mix, trying to match the first mixtures. The paint left over should not be considered wasted.

Apply the proper color in turn to each of the following five masses. (Plate 5, page 32.)

As shown on your green palette, mix a green-gray tone. Apply this to the entire background, painting into the hairline. In this phase, use paint sparingly but cover all white canvas.

With your brush, place a good-sized spot of white on the mixing area of your palette. Add a little yellow ochre and cadmium red light, plus a tiny touch of viridian. If the result seems too red or yellow, lift it off and start over. Don't keep adding white, or you may wind up with a lot of mixed paint you can't use. When satisfied with this color—which should be not unlike the light flesh tone in Plate 9, page 42—don't load it on and brush and paste it down as if painting a house. Instead, using the method demonstrated on page 29, scratch it on all the light areas of flesh: head, neck, shoulder; carry it well into the hair.

Above, the five all-important masses are in place on the canvas. If you do not have a resemblance of your subject at this point, correct before taking next step.

For dark brown or black hair, start with viridian and add cadmium red light to produce a deep brown. Next, add yellow ochre until you have about a middle tone. Since you have already set down a rough drawing of the entire hair area, you need merely to brush this color into it.

Mass no. 4: The Clothing

What your sitter is wearing will obviously determine this color unless you consider a substitute hue more suitable. Mix this color also in a middle tone; apply it uniformly.

Mass no. 5: Shadow (Dark) Flesh Tone

On this most important mass will largely depend whether or not in the end you will create a good resemblance. Much study of the shadow shapes should be made. Beginners seldom realize how important they are; they not only give the likeness but they produce a three-dimensional quality.

We have already had a rehearsal of this in our drawing, so study very thoughtfully what you have set down and, if necessary, correct it. As you paint this dark flesh area, use the step-by-step procedure described for drawing the same area. For the color, deepen the flesh tone already made for the light side.

Do not yet draw the eyes but only the shadow giving the shape of the entire eye socket, brow to cheek. When you have completed the shadow mass of the entire face and neck—and feel reasonably sure it is right in size and shape—step back, partly close your eyes and, area by area, compare your painting with the model. By now there should be a definite resemblance or reflection of the sitter.

PLATE 6

Second Stage Of Painting

The whole painting is gradually developed. Don't be tempted quite yet to add lights to the eyes, and to do other details.

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