South Wirral Art Society.
Demonstration – 9th March 2010.
Chris Fletcher – Portrait in Acrylics.
Tonight we all experienced a demonstration from one of our own – Chris Fletcher. Chris, a long standing member, treated us to a ‘live’ portrait using John Green as her model. This was a brave move. Brave from Chris, because unlike other demonstrators she cannot escape us! Brave from John to sit there and take the jokes, (not least from me), and still keep a straight face for Chris!
Chris started with a blank but prepared canvas. It had been painted with a grey shade which provided a useful undertone for shadows. Chris’ confidence and Art College training showed from the start, as she commenced with a small brush, using a watery mix, to paint the outline and main features of John’s head. This was all done by eye with no measurement, Chris’ mantra being “looking is as important as putting brush to canvas.” Chris used a limited range of colours, but always started with white for flesh adding Raw Sienna, Cadmium Red and a touch of blue as needed.
The next focus was on the highlights of the face. The strong spot light that John had provided gave a nice contrast and this allowed Chris to focus on the light versus dark areas. A broad brush came into play for filling in areas and the small brush made a return for the details of the face. The big tip for lips: start with the line in the middle and not the outline, then work on the light and shade from that point. By focussing on John’s main facial features from that point, it was amazing how quickly the painting came to life. The background was the last thing to go in, with light or darker shading to give contrast or to highlight the profile.
Chris’ ability to produce a portrait in 2-3 hours is testament to her talent. So well done Chris, for your courage, speed, tips, fielding of questions and not least your undoubted talent and passion for this topic.
Peter Appleton.
A BIG P.S. Well done to John for sitting still for so long which is a discipline in itself.
