Step 1: I begin by sketching in with a brush the approximate size of the head and its placement on the canvas. On a canvas of this scale, I prefer to work near life size. Although I often use a toned canvas, this is a white ground which will make judging value a little tougher than on a middle tone surface.

Step 2: Using a soup of cool gray, I begin to look at the major shadow patterns to build structure. At this stage, I am still essentially drawing and thinking only in terms of two values: light and dark.

Step 3: Using a large brush, about a #10 filbert, I continue to block in, but now begin thinking of large pieces of color and three values: light, middle, and dark. Working very rapidly, I am striving to cover the white of the canvas so that I can more easily judge value.

Step 4: Using paper towels, wet with odorless mineral spirits, I wipe larger areas down to move more quickly. This is done by mixing the color-value I am looking for on the palette with a brush, dipping the paper towel into the mineral spirits, then sopping up the paint on the palette. Finally, I rub the areas onto the canvas.

Step 5: I am thinking about the big, general effect of the light and shadow patters and the gesture of the body and the hand; working hard to keep areas simple and working the entire canvas at once.

Step 6: At this point, I am giving more structure to the jacket and the feeling of the body underneath. I'm also paying close attention to the important, larger folds that describe movement, shape, quality, and weight of the material. I am working to refine the head–looking now at more specific shapes and value transitions. I am also constantly "drawing" by comparing angles (by holding a brush perfectly horizontal to an angle to compare), negative space, and alignment (by holding a brush perfectly vertical to the canvas to compare, for example where the right edge of the right ear lines up with the left eye of the dog).

Step 7: I continue to refine drawing, value, edges, and color. If a value seems too light, I adjust it darker. If a shape seems too wide, I slim it down, and so on. I am adding more detail, but constantly stepping back to review the whole, making sure I retain the overall effect of the scene. The dog is coming more info focus. I pay close attention to the edges and make sure they are softer in areas that drift into the background or flow into the shadows. I reserve the sharper edges for the head, which is the focus of my picture. I have spent much of the process up to this point working mainly in the middle values, but I now look for a few darker accents to add weight to the portrait, almost like anchors. When carefully considered and used sparingly, these dark accents provide a certain rhythm to the work that can help pull it together.

Step 8: Now that the overall structure of the body is felt inside the folds of the jacket, I allow myself to consider the pattern. I am careful that the pattern follows the shapes, around the arm for example, and that the pattern varies in value. A cool blue stripe may have a light, middle, and dark passage to it as it moves across a form. The pattern can be very helpful in describing form if carefully considered. This can not just be placed on top of the underlying structure. It has to be considered a part of it. I add more detail to the hand and the face using smaller brushes. In this particular portrait, all filberts were used from size #2 to size #12. I am working now to finish the painting.

Luis Rinaldini

Doug Svendson