I made this portrait a few weeks ago. It was a request from a very special and charming woman, who is in love with her little granddaughter. The photos were “homemade” with a sidelight coming from the window. Sometimes it happens! We capture something special with the lens of our camera and this is what I love to paint when I work from photos…!
Starting with the lights, Pastel painting process,© photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
The regard of this girl is amazing! She is beautiful! The pose is tense in some way as if she soon will move and the magical moment will vanish all of a sudden! From my experience, I know that beauty is the most difficult thing to capture in a portrait. It is a delicate balance of proportions and the small details often decide everything, but if you pay too much attention to them, the magic goes away easily! These are some of the photos taken on each stage of the process that seemed important to the development of the portrait, and show how it was build.
Structuring the face colors, Pastel painting process,© photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
- I used a neutral ocher colored Canson paper, and several pastels brands, such as Schmincke, Unison and Mamut. All of them extra soft. (Pastels with these characteristics allow me to work “alla prima”.)
- For the main drawing I used a very sharp pastel pencil, Stabilo Carbottelo.
The base blue tone for the eyes, © photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
Pastel painting process, Defining the eyes… © photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
- I started to build the portrait from the light and the medium tones …always trying to difine the color temperature and placing the strokes without fear.
- Once the bace of the face was ready, I mark the blue tone of the eyes
Defining the black of the eyes with a black Conté pencil number 3, © photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
- For the details I used a white Caran D´Ache pastel pencil, a very dark sepia lead, and a black Conté pencil number 3.
Retouching the lights with a Caran D´ache pastel pencil, © photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
At this stage I started to work on the relation between the hair and the backgrownd., © photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
- To achieve the effect of softness of the baby hair I used three or four pastel colors, and I blured them with energetic touch of my fingers .
working on the dress… © photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
During the work on the dress I made some corrections of the shoulders line… © photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
- I painted the little dress with great freedom. You have to get loose with certain parts of the portrait to give it a fresh air.
The pallet of the backgrownd made everything come together © photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
The portrait finished, © photo by Bogra art studio, 2020
- I did the background carefully, but energetically…. First tracing all the colors and then giving it “air” with a touch of the fingers.
Hermoso como siempre este retrato! Acabo de ver tu nuevo vídeo. Gracias por mostrarnos tu arte! Por cierto los comentarios del vídeo están apagados, por si acaso no es intencional.
Muchas gracias María,
Y gracias por avisarme sobre lo de los comentarios. Sin querer lo tenía deshabilitado (En modo niños!!) y le cambié enseguida. Me alegra que le haya gustado el video y el nuevo post!
Un saludo, Graciela.
I was so excited to see a new video. I think I have watched each one at least five times and when I got a text from a fellow artist that there was a new one I couldn’t believe it since I just checked last week. I hope you are well and recovered. Please keep posting videos – I have been watching them for a few years and like to get my hands in my pastels also!
Dear Marsha,
You are so kind!
Thank you so much for your beautiful words…
Making videos is quite an effort and they require a lot of energy.
But on the other side, it is wonderful to see how many people react so positively and return this energy back double! I´ll definitely post some new videos soon… 🙂
Best regards, Graciela.
Sensácional,fantástico.
Parabéns pelo excelente trabalho!
Muito Obrigada, Joao!
Bogra
Maravilhoso! Como sempre seus trabalhos sao lindos e se ve a tecnica e o sentimento que voce transmete nas suas obras. Fico muito feliz em ver o seu retorno e vou continuar a seguir os seus trabalhos. SEMPRE. Um abraço virtual.
Sonia
P.s.: gostaria de saber qual o papel e qual o fixativo voce usa???