SC in Sicily. Jan 2019. Acrylic and Oil Pastel.
This commission was an interesting exercise in trying to capture the personality of someone I know well. The image was one taken in intense sunlight with most of the face in shadow. The trick was how to get the blend of colours right. Acrylics were looking dry and cold, so looking back to some early life drawings of mine for inspiration, out came some heavily pigmented oil pastels. After quite a lot of applying and smudging, the work was finished.
I wanted to make it have an expressionistic feel, to keep the vibrancy of marks as well as the vibrancy of all that colour.
Here’s the different stages of the work up to completion. Only the last stages are in oil pastel.
Trevor Mill Graphic Designer Ltd 
Vibrant! Wonderful color. What I like best is the reflected light on the face and the translucence of the hat brim. And very compellingly cropped.
Thank you. Yes, it was fun doing the light effects,.
It needed to be in an oil based medium for this to look ‘right’ my acrylic techniques are too dry.
Thanks for the detail shots of this gorgeous portrait! 🙂