Rankin and Rob Rinder Portraits

This weekly event by Sky Arts TV on Facebook has become a welcome fixture for my Sunday mornings. The sitters of the last two weeks were photographer Rankin and tv personality Robert Rinder.

Rankin

Rob Rinder

I found painting in watercolour a lot more difficult than the pencil portraits I did the two previous weeks, which surprised me, as watercolour is my medium of choice. I assume working in colour and not just tone added an extra challenge.

With both portraits, I built the layers up to start with and then, towards the end, lifted paint to create lighter tones.

Overall, I am pleased with the likeness I have achieved in both portraits. My way of working is to start with the big shapes of the head and finish with the mouth and eyes. 

We may mistakenly think that it's the eyes that make a person recognisable, as we naturally focus on them, but it is the general shapes of the head that create a likeness. If those are wrong, then an accurately painted eye makes no difference.