Lessons Archive

Here Jeff continues to exhaust each value as he works up to a point where the head is completely covered with well designed tiles.

In this continuation video watch as Jeff lays in the next few values in the value chain. This time, in color.

The emphasis in this lesson will be on layering in the initial stain and working up the first few dark values.

In these comps the colors are opened up into the four color "Zorn" palette range.

As we near the finish of this painting, Jeff will show you how to handle the subtleties of blending out your tiles on an attractive female. It is a bit more difficult than on a male, as more finesse is required.

In this lesson Jeff finishes off the last of the values, and starts to show you how to strategically blend your tiles.

Moving right along, the painting is given the next few levels in the value range. Going up through the values this way is critical to the gouache tiling process.

The process continues into the actual painting. In this video Jeff shows the initial stain, and then starts working through the first few values.

This lesson will focus on a female head in profile. As with the male head, Jeff will start by demonstrating doing three small "comps", or compositional studies.

Now that we have completed our values and started learning a bit about how to commence blending, Jeff will take this painting to a finish using water glazing, strategic blending, and yes, even the old school airbrush.

This continuation video will show Jeff walking his way up the value chain, towards complete coverage of the head. Take your time. With gouache you can stop and start whenever you like.

In this lesson Jeff will continue to ramp you up through the chain of values. Stay on track! Gouache training is very methodical, but you will notice the difference on your next oil or digital painting.

Now that the comps are done and your image is nicely drawn in, Jeff will show you a step-by-step process for bringing up a portrait in gouache.

We start off by doing three compositional studies. Developing "comps" lets you explore different styles, compositions, and moods before committing to a specific direction.

Now that the lay-in is complete we will continue our way around the back, softening edges as well as adjusting shapes and values. No fancy palette knife work, just old fashioned good painting.

We will now tackle the back version of this same cast with the same palette. Emphasis is placed on acquiring a rudimentary understanding of the shape recognition of the surface musculature. We will practice this later when we get into the more thorough anatomy courses.

In this continuation lesson Jeff takes this painting to a finish. Study the fundamentals. The process will become more satisfying to you than the product. At that point you find the passion needed to apply yourself coming from the most unlikely subjects.

As we step up to increasingly more complex arrangements keep working on your procedure and developing your patience. Jeff will continue to walk you through all the stages. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

In most still life compositions an odd number of objects is more desirable. Here you can see Jeff approach this scenario in the same manner as the others, but with the addition of a small table that supports the other objects.

In this continuation lesson Jeff brings these three objects up to a nice finish.

In this 2nd part we will explore tying this composition together by finessing the shapes, values and edges until the desired result is reached.

One of Jeff's favorite flowers, the Orchid. The goal of this lesson is to demonstrate getting the incredibly vibrant color, while preserving the complex layering, of the petals. Make sure and try to handle the other surrounding objects for extra practice.