Portrait painting: How to make transitions and soft edges. By ben lustenhouwer

In this example I want to show you thatI try to achieve softness.

here, here and here in order to get the maximum attention to her eyes.

The connection of the hair and the forehead is important here.

And also, like I said the softness here I don't want to articulate here in order to have the maximum effect on this eye.

It is not the complete version ofthe video.

Next week you will see the real-time one.

Two and a half hour of demonstration.

This time only the start and the end.

Have fun.

I start with the light flesh tones.

White and some Terra Rosa.

My intention is to make the light flesh tones a touch too dark because it's easier to make lights lighter and later darks darker.

so if you start to light with your lights then it's difficult to get them even lighter.

If they are a touch too dark, let's say atouch darker then it's easier to make them lighter.

That's my first light.

The second light with a touch more ofRed Deep for the cheeks.

And a light with some more green in it.

It must be dark enough.

Once again, but I have to make first a lighter green and you've seen this before.

Viridian Green with a touch of Ochremakes it a lighter green.

so you see this color is less, let's say less red.

I think this is for the chin.

and I put these pre-mixed colors here.

I want to have space for the other mixtures and I always say keep your kitchen clean and that's what I'm doing now.

because I need that space.

So these are three basics of the for the lights.

now I make a dark one for the hair.

and I start with Transparent Oxide Red with a touch of green, Viridian Green.

So that's for the dark.

For the dark parts of the hair.

later I can change this color whatever I want.

Now I must make a shadow for under the chin and the nose.

Maybe in the eye sockets.

And I make a very simple one.

Just this red and a touch of this green.

well that's not deep enough, so more Viridian Green.

If it's too red I can add always somegreen and as I told you in the other demonstration: as long as you don't add blue or black you're safe.

First I give a wash of Raw Umber dilutedwith a lot of terps.

a little bit of ochre and some green.

Let's see what it looks like.

I don't want to make it very dark so maybe I will wipe it off later a little bit.

Maybe a step darker, and not too much.

First I start with the hair, the darkest part and I prepared this color for the hair.

and I start just covering the whole area with a basic color.

What I want to show you iswhen you want to end here later, you go a little bit over the edge and later you come back.

and that is because you want to make a good connection.

If you leave white lines you will meet difficulties later.

Here again on the forehead.

There is a cast shadow of the locks of hair on her forehead and I prepare first let's say I'm painting now the shadow, the cast shadow, of that lock of hair.

Later I come back with the color of the skin and of the hair itself.

Once again I load my brush and I don't use any medium still.

Downwards the hair has some moreblonde colors so maybe I should prepare first the sort of more reddish and less paint because on top of that I will make some light indications.

Later some darkers of course.

For the color change of here hair over here.

Come back with a darker one here.

Already I can make somedarkers here I must not forget to make this connection also.

I want to end here, so on top of that I go a little bit more down yeah well that's a nicecombination: Viridian Green Ultramarine Blue and Yellow Ochre.

I start with the shadows in the face.

I made one basic shadow and let me do first some indication of the deepest darks around her eyes.

And that's the way I usually start.

I give it a dark wash, let's say a wash with Raw Umber.

and still I can see my under painting, my under drawing, my charcoal under drawing.

Very thin and then I push it around.

So still I can see the form of the eye.

and maybe some connection for the shadow here.

That will do.

The shadow under her chin and her cheek is dark but I want to make it more reddish.

I'm not sure if this is too reddish but I want to play a safe game let's say.

so I started I start this one with a fairly reddish one and it's later easy to let this change a little bit.

Usually shadows you can make transparent, the light parts you always make moreopaque.

Also the cast shadow under her bottom lip.

Always that shadow.

It's a nice accent under her lips.

Now I go to my lights that I have prepared.

The forehead and I must check if this is right.

Well let's give it a try .

Now you see that with this color I go back into this one.

See I go back into that prepared, maybe a touch lighter, the preparation that I did for the hair.

I can always make this light tonelighter.

Here the connection.

You see, now there is already a soft connection.

Towards the temple I make it more greenish so I added a little bit ofochre and a little bit of that ocherish green.

Towards the nose I prefer a touchof this cool one.

Maybe a little bit of this green.

Now her cheek.

Once again it has that morereddish one.

A touch lighter maybe.

Now the connection that I prepared forthe hair.

Where the cheek turns away, that receding plane towards the dark ofthe hair I see some sort of grayish color.

So that connection I must makemore gray.

Once again maybe I can do it with my Mauve.

Let me see if this one would do the job.

maybe with some green makes it less purplish.

I softly go until that edge and I take some paint with my brush into the face.

From the cheeks, here I go to the chin.

And there is usually less red and more gray.

I told you that in the three, colors three colors zones of the face.

So less red or less ocherish.

Also here.

I try already to make a soft connection.

Maybe I have to come back with a shadow, you'll see.

I do the color for her lips.

In which there is red, white, usually a touch of Ultramarine Blue.

and let's see for the bottom lip I think this will do for the bottom lip.

Now the upper lip.

Darker, more red a touch of crimson.

Be careful that I don't take too much of that stuff.

I think I add a touch of that green because I don't want it to be so, so red.

The corner of the mouth has this lovely accent and here as well.

the darkest dark that I had: Transparent Oxide Red and Viridian Green.

There we go.

The white of the eye never is white.

You see it often: people paint it far too light.

I start with the tone, my tonal value here is far too dark but it's easy to make it lighter.

She has brown eyes, browngreenish eyes.

so this red and this green makes it the sort of brown I think.

And I paint a little bit as if I'm hovering on top of that whole area.

I don't want a crisp circle over there.

I think that's ugly.

Also connect it there.

It comes out of the shadow so I it connected over there.

I paint the whole ear red.

Going down I add more light.

So it's a very schematic solution for the ear.

On top of it I can make a shadow andhighlight and then the ear is painted.

Now I have a rest for a second or twoseconds and then I continue painting.

I jump now to the end of thisdemonstration.

Next week I will publish the complete video in real time, more or less two and a half hour.

For this time: thank you for watching and see you next week.

.