“I am trying to build the eye without building the eye (by building the large shapes). It is one of the cornerstones of his painting. Casey observes on the model a blueish tint in between the shadow & the light (known as “the last light”) and paints it that way. –He purposefully dulls down the flesh color so he can sneak in more primaries, pushing the greys into one chroma or another. Uses the following mixture as his initial flesh tones Ultra Violet + Lead White + Cad Red Lite + Yellow Ochre + Bice. “Think of the biggest brush you can use for something then go one brush bigger. Observing where else you can use a specific color is a good way of harmonizing a painting. Starts working with color by jumping into the darks (Aliz + black). Meaning, keep the values in the general same range. Maintain the relationships of light & dark. If you are tackling portraiture you have to be.” You can’t fix poor drawing with colors or edges.” –“This simple block in approach is so important – spend the most time on that. “Get the shapes to relate to each other and you can start to get a sense of likeness without even drawing.” Today he is pushing the mixture towards warm because of the models red hair. Raw Sienna + Alizarin + Blue for the under-drawing. Then he begins to wipe (with a blue paper shop towel) out shapes which immediately makes him think only in regards to lights & darks. He is always thinking what he needs to adjust. If anything is too warm he hits it with the complementary color.
Starts with a thin wash of neutral color. When beginning a new painting he lines up the canvas at eye level. Makes his own panels with gatorboard and linen canvas that he glues together using Beva Glue Film. Casey Childs’ demo just past the block in stage, Casey believes in pushing primaries together to make subtle grays. Genuine Naples Yellow Light (Vasari), Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Transparent Red Oxide, Cad Yellow, Cad Red Light, Alizarin, Ultramarine Violet, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Viridian, Bice (Vasari), Ultramarine Blue. Ivory Black, Flake White (lead white -does not use titanium white). Casey uses a palette of 3 reds, 3 blues and 3 yellows.
It is well documented that Sargent used lots of paint. Working with a limited palette is also good if you are having problems with color. Casey believes it is good for your painting to work on charcoal drawings in between, because it forces you to work on values. _ Casey Childs in action during the block in stage of his demo. The following notes I took during Casey’s Painting Oil Portraits From Life Workshop in October of 2017 at Francie’s Studio in Purcellville VA: Part of Casey’s genius as an instructor is that he is a really good communicator and can easily explain both his working process and (more importantly) his thought process in ways that students can digest. What I am giving you here is some of the best advice to painting that I have heard, at least that is the way it struck me. When I looked over my notes for Casey Childs’ painting workshop, I found stars and comments littered through out the pages. When I take my copious notes during workshops I have a system of highlighting certain passages by assigning a number of stars to them or by calling some things out as “money tips” (my terminology for thoughts that truly add value to your painting). Casey Childs’ finished portrait demo of our lovely model Nataliya.