Painting Bernadine Evaristo

This was probably one of my favourite sitters of all time and I hope this is reflected in her portrait. Bernadine had several expressions during the sitting but I was able to screenshot the one with her head turned slightly away from the camera. Everything about her was giving me life from her pose, expression, hair, blouse, earrings and bookshelves behind her.

Read on to discover how I divided my time and a time lapse of the portrait on the day.

1) Hour 1 – initial sketch and basic tones of the face and hair

2) Hour 2 and 3 – blouse and background details filled in

3) Hour 4 – back to the face to resolve tones and shapes

I was really happy with how much of the blouse I was able to put down considering the complexity of patterns and colours. I had about three different pallettes on the go and I barely stopped the entire time but it was a great personal challenge.

Over the course of the week I worked on the face predominantly and I wanted to insure her father’s portrait in the top right featured.

Overall I’m happy with the end result and I cannot wait for the next sitter.