Here is a short video from a quick portrait sketch yesterday morning. After a one-shot session like this I usually end up with a ton of paint on the canvas from pushing shapes around quickly. This is where scraping down with a palette knife is so useful. In fact, I would say scraping down between sessions at the beginning of a portrait is probably the second most useful thing I learned while studying portraiture (the first being the sight-size technique).
I have a short video of the scraping down process which I’ll add soon.
I haven’t been able to find a link to your video about the scraping down process, has it been published somewhere else on your blog ? If this technique is as useful as it seems, I would be extremely interested in learning it. Thanks alot for sharing your knownledge, it is invaluable indeed.
Hello, that morning I made a video but it didn’t really work out. When I get a chance I’ll try again.
Hi Marc,
I love your paintings and your blog. I have a quick question on scraping down: do you generally do it after a session (while the paint is still wet) or before you start a new session (when the paint is dry).
Much obliged,
Mark
Hi Mark, thanks for the compliments. Scraping down must be done while the painting is wet. Most of the time I’ll do it after a session. If I need to, I can also scrape down during the session (sometimes even more than once, if I need to regain control of the surface). In the case of a portrait commission, I’ll often scrape down if I want the painting to look better just before the client sees it. Finally, sometimes I’ll scrape down the next day, before starting. I find the paint can settle even more into the canvas that way.