I just managed some time today to block in more of the jacket. I am looking forward to adding texture and a little colour. Most of this painting uses neutral tones but the jacket has a little colour woven into the fabric, which I think will be the 'icing on the cake' colour-wise.

A little texture on the coat and the underpainting to the large press-stud on the lapel.  The contrast seems stronger in the photo than in life but I suppose some of the subtleties are lost in the processor.
A very short session today with duties to get the bathroom renovation ready for a measure for the bench top and tomorrow may not be much different as we are expecting visitors for the morning in addition to grandparent duties for the subject of my painting!

I have lightened the right cheek (left of the painting) and made subtle tonal changes around it. The shadow to the right of the composition has been tonally adjusted also.
The wooly collar which casts the shadow has been started but I will need to add a few more subtle tones at a later stage.
I am looking forward to working on the texture of the coat and adding details to the zip feature.
For now I am leaving the hair, but will return to it later as it needs some warmer, darker tones in particular to the central area.

The hair is beginning to take shape now. There is still a little way to go be adding more tones, but they are necessary. Whilst there are a few fine strands of hair, this is not a hyper-realist painting. Whilst I admire the skill and technique of such artists, I personally like to see brush strokes, which help to convey emotion from the artist and in the subject.
I will leave the hair for a while and return at a later stage, as I feel the need to work a little on the jacket to make the composition more unified.

The hair is improved. Not finished yet, but it is on the way. The hair is fine, straight and very sun-bleached blonde and the fine 'wisps' are not easy to depict on the pale skin of the face.
The blemish below the eye on the right cheek will also be toned down a little.
The eyebrows are pale, mismatched  and lack the archetypal shape of eyebrows but they are his!

 
AS can be seen from these two photographs, I have changed the tones of the under painting on the hair. The new tones, on the right, are more true to the natural colour but there is much more hair texture to be added. My dilemma was wether to make the hair unkempt as it was in this early morning or make it have a groomed appearance, as one would do in preparation for having a photograph taken. I opted for the former as the subject was not long out of bed and I feel that the unkempt appearance has more interest. In either case I have a lot of work to do in this area!

No picture today. I painted more of the hair this morning, but in a rush before a day's appointments and was unhappy with the result. I shall work over the next couple of days to correct what I have done.

In the last session, I refined the ear and began the hair. The blonde hair will be applied over the dark underpainting but some of the darker areas will show through the lighter tones. The natural colour is  slightly darker at the roots but very blonde on top which has been accentuated by sun bleaching. It seems unusual to have such blonde hair and brown eyes but obviously with natural selection of genes almost anything is possible.
some of the darker streaks on the forehead are shadows as, not all hair lies flat on the skull and it needs shadow to indicate dimension.
A long way to go yet but I am happy with progress so far.
In between working on the portrait I have been preparing a watercolour painting bases on ladies scarves as displayed in a store. It will be a sequel to 'Le Scarpe Delle Donne'

A little more tone added to the face and some under painting to the jacket. Once I have begun to add the hair, I shall blend the facial tones more smoothly on the exposed parts of the forehead. I toned down the 'glistening' in the  upper lip and the crevice in the dimple under the nose.
As I have said before, I shall continuously alter some of the details in colour and tone as needed, as the painting progresses.

I have blocked in the background to the hair leaving some texture. The is much more hair than is indicated, as can be seen in my original sketch below, but the hair is a golden blonde and the blocked in areas are only the contrasting darks over which the hair will be painted. It will also come much lower over the forehead and down by the ear which has also been blocked in during this session.
In my next session I shall add a little more colour to the face near the ear and add some eyelashes to the right eye (left on the painting) which will fall over the eyeball. I will also add the small hairs that come below the eye.
As I paint, I also make minor adjustments to the parts of the face already seemingly completed. This is because, as I look at the work, I notice small things that don't seem quite correct that I can't comfortably leave. I am also beginning to think about the coat and zipper. The coat will have a small amount of colour and is highly textured.

I have added two photos to show my development around the lips. The one from my last post has the top lip only blocked in and, whilst in the photograph the highlight looks quite natural, in reality it is a scant bit of exposed canvas.
I added more colour and tone around the mouth and to the top lip, and  the start of the shadow to the right of the composition.
I am trying to achieve the colour and delicacy of the skin, which is usual on the lips of very young children.
The reflections were then added caused by the moisture from the lips being licked by the subject.
There will be a few more strokes of different tones added when the present stage is dry and, tomorrow, it is my intention to apply some colour to the ear on the left of the composition.

The coat shadow adds to the intimacy of the composition and helps to make sense of the lighting decisions. The pose indicates a low, early morning light, which again reinforces the 'dreamy' demeanour of the subject.
It is difficult to tell in this photograph but there is much to do on the top lip which has only had an initial colour added. There will be an indication of a wet area but, at present, it is only the white canvas on show.
There is a little more refinement needed, also, on the bottom lip.

The shadow below the bottom lip will continue up to the ear, as the light is cast from the left of the composition and the collar of the jacket is lifted partly over the face. There will be some shadow on the right also, but not so far up. It is these shadows which will give the 'intimate' feeling of the pose.
The lips of young children are tender and the colour delicate, which is what I am aiming to portray. I am not finished yet, and will work on them periodically as the painting progresses.

Underpainting has been added to the top lip and the nose shadow adjusted. I am quite happy with the progress. Whilst a face has a basic symmetry, no face is exactly symmetrical. When I look at myself in a photograph I always feel that is doesn't look exactly like how I see myself. This is because i am used to seeing myself in a mirror which is, obviously, a mirror image. The sides of my face are reversed in a mirror image, which accounts for the different appearance to that in the photograph. The photographic image is the one that other people see - scary!

I was concerned that the colour around the eye made him look 'ill' rather than 'tired' or 'dreamy', so I have toned the colour down a little.
The shadowing on the bridge of the nose needs adjustment but Will be in the next session.

The right hand picture was obviously at an earlier stage from today's session but I put it in the give an idea of scale. I have added a large area of underpainting of the flesh tones but there will be many subtle changes as I progress. As can be seen from the preparatory sketch, posted a few days ago, there will be some quite dark shadows to the left and right of the face. The time of the day was a very sleepy early morning for my grandson, listening to his nana reading a story. His eyes are quite dark and tell us that he is 'in another world' whilst listening. If a subject, in particular a child, is not aware of you doing art work about them, you tend to get a much more natural pose.
I purchased a flesh coloured paint in the Winsor and Newton Artists range but I found it too 'Pink' in nature, so I have decided to create my own flesh tones. It may be useful as a base for me to build on. They are not always as perfect as I would like but, as my experience grows, I shall change them as I go along.

I am giving flesh to the eyes and  am finding it a challenge and exhilarating at the same time. Never having done a portrait of this magnitude, I am pushing my boundaries to the limits. Pushing boundaries is how we make progress in life - learning from our mistakes and moving on. I may change some of the tones and colours before the painting is complete but, for now, It will stay as it is.
The eyelash/eyebrow details etc will be added much later.
I am very conscious of the physiology of the eye. It needs to look like we are seeing a section of an orb and not a flat ovoid shape which happens to be on a face. In my next session, I shall need to use a much larger brush, and block in a large area of flesh around the eye and nose. It will not have the form of the finished face as I think the highlights and deeper parts of the shadows will need to be 'built up' gradually but we shall see.

Still more to do but the eye is becoming more as I want it. It needs to be 'glassy' in appearance. The eyelashes will be added after the surrounding flesh has been completed after which, the texture on the right side of the eye will make more sense.

Just a little more work on the eyes. There are so many tones in the 'white' of and eye it is very interesting to observe them. There is much work to do yet; defining highlights and their reflected colour, eyelashes, their reflections and shadows and the blending of the flesh around the eyes. There will be many subtle changes of colour and tone yet, but I am happy with the progress.

It looks very strange with the pupils blocked in but it is the eyes that I believe can 'make' a portrait. The eyes of people, they say, are ' the window to the soul'. I believe that the character of a person can be seen in the eyes and I hope to convey the character of my grandson through the 'eyes' of this painting.
I am finding it a challenge to not work wet in wet with this work but have to resist the temptation.
The blocking in should not take a long time as there are some large expanses of skin and hair.
A challenge as it is, I am excited about the journey.

Still difficult to see yet, but I have made a start. With this painting, I am trying a different technique - I am going to block in large areas of underpainting and make them smooth, rather than impasto in texture. I shall wait for areas to dry before overpainting with the different tones and textures. I think that this will be more suited to the large areas in the composition and the subject.
I am also using a method where I paint in the dark areas in the early stages and work the lighter areas later, gradually building up the different tones.
I shall need to think more carefully before I add paint.
I will also use 'soft' edges to add the natural feel of the work. Using hard edges, especially on this scale, would have the effect of making the subject appear 2 dimensional or superimposed on the background.
I have to admit, though, that i am experiencing more apprehension with this painting than any other that I have done. When painting a portrait, if the image does not match the communal image of the person, there is some disappointment for the artist. It is important to me also, that the character of the person 'shines through' in the finished work.

I was reluctant to put this photo on the post because it is so difficult to see. I have begun to map out the portrait on the canvas but I am anxious to make sure that I have the minimum of lines and pencil marks because I want this painting to have the paint as pure as I can make it.
I need some points, so that I am able to make the face a good likeness, which is not as easy when enlarging on this scale. The canvas is approximately 91cm x 120cm and the sketch is quite small. I have not used a grid reference, but I have made some proportion measurements and placed marks accordingly.
I am inexperienced, not just with oil paints, but also with portraits as a subject, so I proceed with a little trepidation.
 I am considering that working 'wet in wet' will not work with this, as I want very gradual, but smooth tonal changes on the face. This should reflect his 'tender' years.

This is a preliminary sketch of my next oil painting which will be a portrait of my grandson.
I have only done two portraits in the distant past and those were using acrylic paints. I think that I could say that they were moderately successful. I have never attempted one using oil paints, so it will present quite a challenge for me. This sketch is from a pose where he was listening to his nana read a story on a cool winter morning, hence the coat with a 'wooly' collar. He wasn't looking at her but was immersed in the magic of the story and its reading. He was not aware of me either.
The painting will be much larger than life.

Almost complete. A few highlights and lines on the cornice to the left of the composition still to be added. I shall also make some colour adjustments to the shadows on the young lady's apron as the shadows, done at different times present as two different colours of blue. It is easy to see why I am thinking of the title 'The Wave'! My next project is an oil portrait of my grandson and a watercolour companion to my ladies shoes painting. Watch this space!