Okay. It surprised even ME that I was able to complete Portrait of Madame C in less than 24 hours. So, I thought it might be neat to share the process, which sorta explains how I was able to whip through it. It’s the same process I learned while doing master oil studies in art school, only this time, I got to use Photoshop, which is approximately a million billion times easier. and oh ho hoooo, if my painting teachers only knew the number of master studies I did at 3am, hauling canvases into critique with the oils still dripping wet…
Having the original to reference (unlike Sargent, who had to paint his own 8ft-fall masterpiece from scratch) was certainly key. I didn’t trace anything, though tracing CAN be useful for studies and note-taking, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I worked side-by-side with the masterwork the entire time, and used some conveniently perfect Sargent oil blender brushes from the Kyle Webster Photoshop megapack.
Above all, this was really fun to paint, as it’s long been one of my favorite portraits, and it was a great learning opportunity. It’s like having a great painter whispering clues at you from Beyond, which is… just… Neat.
1) Gesture - After studying the painting and taking some notes on Sargent’s sketch (including a gesture tracing) I used grid-lines alongside to mimic the gesture and landmarks, trying to get a feel for the original painting’s structure.
2) Sketch - Using full-body references of David Tennant, I drew over my original gesture sketch to make a figure approx a foot and half taller (at a guess) than the original. I also broadened her shoulders and attempted a first pass at Crowley’s likeness
3) Color sketch - I sampled key areas of color from the original painting, like blue-gray undertones, pale faint pink/salmon flesh, and those glorious emerald blacks. I was astonished to learn that despite the sumptuous richness of the blacks, nothing is black black. It’s all variations on extremely dark greens and blues and browns. Lastly, I widened the narrow original framing to accommodate tumblr’s bogus compression algorithm, which only allows 2x3 ratios.
4) Details - Refining brushwork, still trying to find Crowley’s likeness. At this point I showed the painting to my husband, who encouraged me to carve additional Tennant-like severity into the features. I superimposed my references to demonstrate how I work, with crap just pasted everywhere for quick glances.
5) Final - shown next to the original painting for comparison
p.s. - included some detail shots just for fun
p.p.s. - yes. prints are available. thank you so much to all the folks who have asked! <3
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