I learned to paint on-the-job as a decorative artist, faux painter and muralist, in the North Dallas area. But my favorite book on realistic portrait painting is "How To Paint Like The Old Masters" by Joseph Sheppard. This is also the process I teach in my workshops, which basically involves 3 painting stages. I use both regular oils and Griffin Alkyd oil paints. The alkyd content in the oils allows for quicker drying time and they can be mixed with regular oils. Most colors dry within only a few hours (instead of days). I also like to use Windsor Newton's Liquin towards the end stages of the painting, especially on dark areas (like hair) that dry flat and become harder to see detail. It also serves as a great temporary varnish, until the oils have cured long enough for final varnish. It evens out the finish and makes the colors pop.
The first layer is laid out in a transparent brown oil paint, such as burnt umber or for warmer tones, burnt sienna could be used. Once the shadows and highlights have been sufficiently developed, areas of flesh are then further refined using shades of gray, mixing burnt umber and white. The more developed the gray stage is, the easier the final stage for laying on thin, transparent color glazes becomes and creates rich and realistic flesh tones.
The blue paint was dry-brush scrumbled onto the jacket, leaving traces of the brown underpainting showing, to make the denim look worn and rougher texture than hair and skin.
Native American-styled frames are not all that common and if you happen on one, they're the stereotypical Southwestern style. I don't want to say definitively there are no Southeastern Native American style frames out there, but I've yet to see any. This ancient Southeastern motif was sculpted in a medium called modeling paste (or molding paste) that is applied to the wood substrate. The mottled finish resembles the rich tones found in traditionally fired Cherokee pottery, with copper paint accents.
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