A hobo clown for painting.
Picasso, Manet and other famous painters have found inspiration in clowns. Famous clown Red Skelton became a famous clown painter. Traditional Pierrot or "whiteface" clowns, hobo or "tramp" clowns and Auguste or comedic clowns are all good subjects for paintings. Focus on the main features of the clown and his or her unique face painting style and costume when you create your painting. Clown faces are painted-on and comprised of simple shapes, making the clown a great choice for beginning to intermediate painters.
Instructions
Prepare the Canvas and Underpainting
1. Select a vertical prepared canvas in the size you desire. Prepare your source image by placing it in comfortable view of your painting area with tape or tacks. Set out your brushes. Squeeze primary oil colors of cadmium red, cadmium yellow and ultramarine blue onto the palette. Squeeze larger amounts of white and black oil colors onto the palette. Add additional red colors to the palette near the cadmium red paint, starting with alizarin crimson and other colors if available. Add additional blue colors to the palette near the ultramarine blue, starting with cerulean blue and cobalt blue and other colors if desired. Sketch the clown centered on the canvas with dark charcoal or pastel. Note the relationship between the clown, his satchel and stick to the larger rectangle of the canvas.
2. Thin the ultramarine blue with turpentine and paint the upper and lower portions of the backdrop wall and floor around the sketched clown. Thin the alizarin crimson with turpentine and paint the lower portion of the backdrop wall in the lower third of the canvas behind and around the sketched clown. Thin the black paint with turpentine and paint the shadowed areas of the clown's suit, hat and briefcase.
3. Mix white, black and a small amount of ultramarine blue paint to make a light blue gray. Thin this color with turpentine and paint the lighter portions of the clown's suit. Mix about 7 parts white, 1 part yellow and 1 part alizarin crimson to make a basic flesh tone. Thin the flesh tone paint mix with turpentine and paint the skin tone portion of the clown's face. Mix 3 parts black and 1 part yellow to form a greenish dark. Thin with turpentine and paint the clown's hat. Mix black with a small amount of yellow and blue and paint the clown's dark hair. Allow the underpainting to dry before continuing to the next steps.
Paint Major Areas and Forms
4. Prepare your palette with plenty of space for mixing white, black and other colors for subtle grays. Mix a midtone neutral gray by mixing ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson, then add small amounts of cadmium yellow. Carefully study the clown's suit for several minutes, identifying the highlight areas, midtones, and shadows creating the folds of the suit. Paint the major light gray areas of the clown's suit with the midtone neutral gray. Paint the shadow areas of the clown's suit using a darker gray. Paint the highlight areas of the suit using a lighter gray. Block in the clown's briefcase using the darkest gray. Paint the clown's suit trousers with the darkest gray. Paint highlight areas on the briefcase and trousers with the lightest gray.
5. Mix a base flesh tone for the clown's face using seven parts white, one part alizarin crimson, one part cadmium yellow and a small amount of burnt umber. Paint the flesh colored areas of the clown's face with the base flesh tone. Add alizarin to the base flesh color for redder areas of the clown's cheek and nose. Add a small amount of black for the clown's shadowed cheeks. Mix burnt umber and black to create a warm, dark black and add a small amount of the base flesh tone for the darkest areas of the clown's face. Mix a small amount of cadmium yellow with white for highlight areas and the clown's lower lip and chin.
6. Mix eight parts ultramarine blue and one part alizarin crimson to create the primary tone of the backdrop wall. Paint the outer blue backdrop area with a large, soft brush, working from the clown to the outer area of the canvas. Mix white with the primary backdrop blue tone to create the lighter center highlight area tone. Paint from the clown to the upper area of the canvas. Paint the floor beneath the backdrop and the clown's feet with the blue tone you have created for the lighter center highlight area. Create the magenta tonal reflection in the lower third of the painting by painting into the darker blue tone you have painted. Paint the white backlight area behind the clown by working into the darker blue tone with a small amount of white paint on a large, soft brush. Start in the center of the white highlight area and paint outward, allowing the brush to create the powdery blue effect on the canvas. Allow the mid-level painting you have created to dry before continuing to the next step.
Completing the Details
7. Mix highlight, mid-tone and dark tones in gray and blue to complete the details of the painting. Thin your tones to the desired consistency with linseed oil. Paint the dark details of the clown's face using fine brushes. Paint the mid-tone details of the clown's face using fine brushes. Add highlights on the clown's brow, cheeks and bridge of his nose. Use the same colors to complete the clown's hand.
8. Mix highlight, midtone and dark tones with alizarin crimson, white, and a small amount of ultramarine blue for the clown's satchel. Add a small amount of burnt umber and black to the midtone satchel color for the clown's stick.
9. Mix highlight, mid-tone and dark tones with ultramarine blue, burnt umber and white. Paint the details of the clown's hat with these tones. Complete highlights on the hat's brim with the highlight tone.
10. Mix four parts ultramarine blue, five parts black, and a small amount of white to create the shadow tone. Add black for darker portions of the shadow. Complete the reflected shadow at the clown's feet.
Tags: small amount, ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, areas clown, clown face, clown suit, turpentine paint
