Stages of creating a portrait.
What does the process of creating a portrait include?
There are many artistic techniques and techniques for creating portraits. Most of the time I use the multi-layered technique of the old masters, because it guarantees good quality and excellent results. It should be clarified that the creation of a portrait using this technique is completely manual work. Every millimeter of the surface is processed by hand at every stage.
Here is a detailed description of the process of creating a portrait:
First, we prepare the canvas — apply a layer of primer. Then a sketch is made on paper of the same size in pencil, the drawing is brought to full completion and only then applied to the prepared canvas, since it will be difficult to correct the error in the future. At this stage, your portrait is practically drawn in pencil. After transferring the lines to the canvas, they need to be drawn with ink so that the main lines are visible through the first few layers of paint.
After that, a layer of imprimatura is applied, which includes dammar varnish for better adhesion with subsequent layers of paint.
From this moment on, each layer of paint must be dried for seven to fourteen days, so that the next layer can be applied. The point of the layering technique is to get the desired color values by overlaying layers. At the same time, the light reflected from each layer of paint acquires deep shades and gives the image the effect of an internal glow, which greatly enhances the visual sensations. A similar effect cannot be achieved by simply mixing paint on a palette. Therefore, the method was called multilayer.
Next, we work out the shadow layers, which can be from three to five. This is necessary to obtain the necessary saturation in the shadow. The final result depends on the thoroughness of each layer. Dry each layer. You can calculate the drying time yourself. After that we work with the light — also three to five layers, until we get the desired light value. Drying between layers. After that, we enter the color. There can be an order of magnitude more layers here.
Why is it so difficult? — you may ask.
Take a look at my work. Not all of them look perfect. In some cases I was limited in time, and had to reduce the number of layers, in some cases, to make it cheaper, I could not work out the layers carefully, and the result was not as good as it could have been. In any case, I always try to do the job as well as possible. And customers are satisfied in most cases.
Summing up the above, it can be noted that to create a good portrait of 40×50 cm, you will need to apply several dozen layers and work them out carefully. And also spend from eighty to three hundred hours of net time, and from three to six months of calendar time. It is clear that the cost of such work is not calculated in tens or hundreds of euros. I know that the average cost of such a portrait can be fifty thousand euros, and not everyone can afford it. As with expensive cars. Someone drives a Ferrari, and someone has enough Fiat.
At the heart of any good and expensive thing is a complex and painstaking work that must be paid for.