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Ralph Vint

Ralph Vint
24" x 24", oil on panel, 2017

What appealed to me most about doing this portrait commission was the candid and casual non-posed look of the subject in the reference photo provided. I really like how he looks as though he'd been looking away and his wife, sitting beside him, snapped a quick photo just as he turned his head to face her.

Pencil phase.

The vintage photo had enough contextual details to indicate Ralph was sitting behind the wheel of a car and I wanted to make sure this was clear by not cropping anything out that might take him out of that setting (specifically, the steering wheel and the hint of windshield in the top right).

Blocking in shadows.

The usual: olive green shadow blocking to get my thoughts organized and get things going.

Blocking in the skin tones.

Refining the skin tones.

Early highlights.

Further refinement.

Nearly done.

I like that car in the background; it helps set this painting some time in the late '70s or early '80s, but it's asking for a little bit too much attention, so it'll get pushed back a bit with some transparent white.



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