Preparatory Work
 

Forgive me if this is a topic that has been discussed in the past but if it is I haven't seen it, but how much preparatory work do you perform prior to the beginning of the commissioned piece? I have read that William Bouguereau could complete a painting in a matter of just eight days, however, those around him observed that he had many, many hours preparing compositional renderings, numerous head studies, hand studies and on and on that allowed him to complete the painting rather quickly. I think it's also interesting to point out that Bouguereau himself talked about the long hours he would work on these pieces without interuption.

I have found that this method has been most helpful to me most recently. Without discussing the procedures involved with the model mine are as follows: 1) development of the composition (pencil study) 2) Head study (pencil) 3) hand study (pencil), if applicable 4) head oil study 5) oil study of the complete composition without detail, only for color/value development.

Do you have a particular method or input concerning preparatory work?

I noticed Deladier Almeida created a fully developed (though smaller) oil study for his terrific portrait of Max Mack. I imagine having all the issues worked out in the study beforehand allowed him to keep such energy and fresh brushwork in the finished piece.

My prep work has increased exponentially in the two years I've been working as a portrait artist. Most of it is done digitally, though. (Thank you, Photoshop!) I'm learning that my paintings succeed or fail based on the decisions I make long before I touch brush to canvas.

I do the following things electronically: plan poses, work out the composition, adjust values, decide cropping, print different color possibilities, etc. I also print out reference at the size it will be in the painting.

I read an interesting quote the other day from movie critic Roger Ebert. He said, when making movies, that quick execution is only possible with careful preparation. I think the same thing applies to just about all creative endeavors.

I used to build fancy custom houses. I was always amazed at the mind set of some people who, on the verge of spending $500m and up on their house, would consider "saving money" by buying a set of mail order plans that they had seen in a magazine for $39.

My advice was always, "the cheapest money you will ever spend will be the thousands of dollars you spend on the up front design from a qualified architect." Design it, change it, think about it, live with the thought of it, change it again, for as long as you can before beginning. There will always be modifications but nothing compared to the alternative.

There are amazing similarities in the building of a portrait.

Bouguereau Study
 

In my world this is a finished piece!

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A study I saw, by our artists' artist, master Joe Bowler , is almost as same as his completed work.