Here’s a look at the portrait painting process for my painting of Peter (my brother). This is painted in oils and it was my first assignment for my Alla Prima class last semester. Sorry for the less-than-stellar photos (a couple of them were taken with a cell phone).

This was a very new technique to me at the time and I was very reluctant to make heavy painterly marks. I began the painting by laying down thinned down washes of color. The shadows in the painting were left fairly thin and the highlights are the thickest opaque spots of paint. I believe that John Singer Sargent painted the same way. This was also my first time painting on canvas board.