I’ve wanted improve my skills with “character” paintings, since that’s a subject which challenges me greatly. I had signed up for a 3-day watercolor portrait workshop last year, taught by an artist whose work I love and admire. I bought the supplies and was all excited about the learning opportunity, but sadly the workshop was cancelled at the last minute. The artist had described her method of painting with a limited palette of the 3 primary colors, which I often do, but she had an interesting twist… she actually used six colors: 3 “warm” primaries and 3 “cool” primaries. I had bought the paints she recommended, but I didn’t know how to properly use them. So I challenged myself to figure it out and give it a try.
I couldn’t find any online tutorials or other instructions from the workshop artist, but I found another portrait artist who said “use warm colors in the shadows and cool colors in the highlights.” It was truly the opposite of what I would have guessed, but the artist’s paintings looked great so I decided to test the theory.
In my huge reference photo collection I had some shots of a very interesting character. They were taken on a fall visit I made a few years ago to Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill in Monterey, Tennessee. Fresh sorghum syrup, a sweeter I use which is much like molasses, is produced by the Mennonite Guenther family and other members of their community. Their website has a terrific video about the family and their old-time production process.
You can also see a 6 minute TV clip on YouTube all about the sorghum-making process which takes place in this community.
I had taken many photos of this man, who I believe is the Guenther family patriarch, as he sat next to a big press. His job was to feed in the sorghum cane stalks (they look similar to corn stalks), then direct the extracted raw juice through a pipe into a bucket. A work horse was hitched to a long timber, which was fastened to the mill. As it walked in a big circle, the horse turned the mechanism which squeezed the juice out of the sorghum cane. The set-up looked a bit primitive, and I was hoping the cinderblock chained as a weight would not come tumbling down! It was a unique process to witness. Similar to the making of maple syrup, the sorghum juice is boiled down and condensed, and our visit included a look at the cooking process (and purchase of the sorghum in their shop!)
The photos were all unposed, so I selected the one which had the best facial expression and point of view. It had all the ingredients I was looking for in tackling my new character painting: an interesting beard, outdoor lighting which created highlights and shadows on his skin, visible eyes and a friendly pose. I’m a sucker for wonderful fabric textures and worn machinery, so those components added to the appeal. I liked how his beard was highlighted against the dark machinery on the right. I cropped the scene vertically, to focus solely on the sorghum maker, and eliminated the section of the machinery which hung directly over his head. A bit of green sorghum cane shows beside him.
The color palette I used included:
Warm Primaries: Scarlet Lake, Quinacridone Gold, Winsor Blue Red Shade
Cool Primaries: Permanent Rose, Aureolin, Winsor Blue Green Shade
You can see the difference in hues and temperatures on the sample swatches I painted, as well as on the mixed colors. (Step 7 in my photo collage).
“Sorghum Maker” is painted in a traditional watercolor style, in which the white of the paper creates the whites in the painting. This was important with his white beard and hair particularly. I used a few other watercolor techniques: I lightly sprinkled a few particles of table salt on some of the background foliage areas while the paint was slightly damp. When dry this creates texture with starburst patterns of the under-color against the newly painted color, like glistening sunlight on leaves. Let the painted area dry completely before adding any paint or brushing off the salt, and the results will happen automatically. The effect will differ depending on how much salt you use, what kind of salt you use, whether your painting is on a slant or level, how wet the paint is, and the actual pigments you’ve sprinkled salt into. Chemically, the salt crystals soak up the water in your paint, while the pigment is pushed away. If you’ve never tried this, I suggest experimenting on something other than your painting, changing these variables until you create the effect you desire.
I used masking fluid – also called frisket – as a resist, around the outer edges of the beard, particularly where it would overlap the dark machinery. Pebeo Drawing Gum is my preferred brand. This is a liquid latex which, when applied to the painting and allowed to dry, keeps paint from being absorbed by the paper. It can be used on unpainted areas or lightly painted areas, keeping them from changing when darker paint is brushed over. Once the area is dry and complete, the masking fluid can be rubbed off or pulled off with a piece of masking tape. For fine hairlines, I used a little squeeze bottle made to be used with the masking fluid, inserting one of three different sized metal tips to control the flow. Random squiggles were fun to apply and appropriately captured the beard texture. Don’t ever apply masking fluid with a good brush, since it can ruin it.
I should have taken a photo between Steps 5 & 6 in my photo collage, but I was so intent on “fixing” what I had done that I didn’t stop for a photo. I had carefully painted the plaid pattern of the shirt and it was perfect. Too perfect, actually! It was full of sharp lines and strong contrasts and it was detracting from my character’s face. I wanted it to look like a soft flannel, worn from wear. So I took a Magic Eraser, which is a handy tool for removing watercolor from a painting. I cut pieces about 1″ x 3″, dampened one and started to blot and gently rub the plaid. Carefully I removed some of the intensity of the paint, softened and blended the lines, and made the pattern look unevenly worn. Voila, saved!
The salt effect in the background kept distracting my eye. I wanted to darken portions of that foliage area too, to give it more variety and to strongly contrast the man’s white hair. So I applied painter’s blue masking tape roughly along his head to keep from getting paint on the white hair. I mixed some strong dark greens and blues and used natural artists sea sponges to apply the paint. These sponges are irregular and rough; good for dabbing on paint to create the look of distant foliage. Near the man’s head, I used the same colors and carefully applied the paint with a brush to preserve the little clumps of white hair (which was unpainted paper). Over areas of the salt texture, I glazed with diluted color, enough to decrease the contrast but retain the texture.
Step 9 shows the machinery painted, creating a good dark foil for the man’s profile and beard. The only difference in Step 10 is the removal of the masking fluid from the edges of the beard… you can see all those white squiggles I drew in. To finalize the painting, I used an xacto blade to scratch even finer lines of beard hair; I use 300lb watercolor paper, which is thick enough so stands up to this process. I lightly glazed with thin paint over those unmasked white hairs, making them less stark and more like they are in slight shadow, especially on the right edge of the beard. I also brushed on a light stoke of clean water and did a little blotting to soften some edges, such as the little portion of his left sleeve against the black machinery in the lower right of the painting. Then I declared my “Sorghum Maker” finished! By the way, try some sorghum syrup yourself. I use it in making my homemade granola (with additional sweetness from maple syrup), in gingerbread, and in my Nana’s old recipe for spice bars she called “Hermits.” Yummy!
