Fifty members logged on to watch Matt's Zoom demo, painting a portrait in oils.  He said he specialises in faces, as he finds them fascinating and always different.  We could see several of his portraits displayed on the wall of his studio, behind him.  He talked a little about some of these, his background in animation and his style, which conveys a sense of movement and energy with 'blocky' brushstrokes.  

​

Matt uses a traditional wooden palette and he outlined the colours he was using.  He said that yellow ochre and burnt sienna, together with titanium white and mars black are useful colours for portrait painting.  He had both cool and warm shades of red, blue and yellow on his palette.  He used a selection of hogs-hair and synthetic round brushes.  He was working on canvas paper for the demo, and now prefers this, saying 'it is cheap, portable and easier to store'.

​

He sketched in the portrait with a small brush and light wash, quickly marking in shapes.  He then deepened the tone, re-establishing the shapes and making any corrections.  He says he tries to keep this 'loose and fluid'.  He moved on to using a bigger brush to then block in the dark tones, using large marks and mainly warm values.  He then mixed the cool tones, checking the values on the paper next to the previous colours, before adding to his portrait.

​

He gradually built up the layers of the painting, making 'big, blocky, bold, confident' strokes, with thicker and thicker paint, using the 'fat over lean' technique.  He worked across the whole painting, improving the drawing, tones and contrasts.  He emphasised you must keep looking at the subject.  He said to 'make a mark and leave it' and in the background, to focus on the area which has the biggest contrast between light and dark.

​

There was lots of praise for Matt's demo.  Amanda said "I loved the demo, especially the way Matt talked us through the whole process, before and during his painting".  On Instagram, Rukeyah said "Matt made it look so easy.  Lovely colour palette" and Caroline said "I learnt a lot".    You can see some of the stages in the creation of his excellent portrait below.