The background

Being that the subject, John travelled extensively around the world, I wanted to incorporate it in the painting. At first I thought of adding a globe next to him, but on second thought I came up with an old world map that will be in the back.

After drawing it I used gold leaf for the continents which I knew I would glaze so it will look like an old map.

The oceans were painted with light browns as a basic color.

Next I painted his robe in light brown.

The face was painted . Once I got the eyes, painting the rest of the face was rather easy.

I paint in basic flesh colors which I will glaze later on the indicate light and shadow.

Next I painted the hands. I try not to over blend and once the brush stroke hit the canvas, I tend to leave it alone.

I started dropping highlights on the robe with light napels yellow.

The face started getting some shadows and more definitions in the eyes.

The next stage will be in the next blog.

So stay tuned.

Ayal