Not being really satisfied with my first attempt at Chief Washington I thought I'd have another try. I decided not to be too hung up over how close the resemblance was and re-visited one of my favourite Charles Reid books `The Natural Way to Paint'. When I told Charles this was one of my favourites he seemed surprised but I can only say the chapter on features is one I've studied many times.
Chief Washington 16" x 12" Fabriano Extra White Artistico 140lb (300gsm) not
I approached the previous version in a different way to my normal practice and this is even more `way out' if that's the right word. Actually I'm somewhat apprehensive about possible reactions. These Indian portraits are tough using these old monochrome photographs, with so much detail obscured and I find it hard to know what to do with these `missing' areas.
Skin colours were Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber and Cobalt Blue/ Cerulean. Also some Cadmium Red and Translucent Brown. The hair was a mixture of Ultramarine Blue, Raw Umber and Burnt Sienna. His clothes are Raw Umber and some Gold Ochre.
I only used three brushes, the Isabey No 6 retractable for the features and the Escoda Kolinsky retractables sizes 8 and 10.
I don't suggest for one moment that this is good just an experimental painting trying different ways of tackling this subject. I won't be posting much this month as we're moving home on the 10th, and also going on holiday on the 13th for a week. I didn't anticipate that these things would be so close together but that's how it has worked out. As a result I'll be offline until at least the 23rd when my cable company are scheduled to install broadband et al in my new home.