Fatima is very well known to many Fleet Art Society members, as she runs art classes for the group as well as others in the region. She is a friendly, enthusiastic and engaging artist, who loves sharing her skills, hints and tips. 

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She spent time before the demo chatting to members and sharing some of the huge array of her work in different styles and media, explaining how each effect was achieved.   For this demo she painted a portrait in (mainly) acrylics.  She started by pointing out you should keep the source photo level with the canvas and then suggested you draw in a 'frame', in which to place the portrait.  Working with a watery mix, she sketched in the outline of the figure, checking proportions, angles and the position of features.  She then changed to a different colour, but still thinly mixed to start refining the details on the hair and face.  This portrait was to include the hands, which she said could be 'tricky' but she said to  simplify into shapes, and 'the brain will do the rest'. 

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Next, she started to block in the skin tones and hair, all with a medium shade to begin with.  She worked on the background at the same time, keeping a liveliness to the painting.  One hint: use different brushes for different colours to keep the paint clean. Using the original skin tone mix, she then showed how she made the lights and darker tones from this, keeping them together on her palette.  Hint number 2: when painting the background, or clothing, if the colour mixed turns out not to be exactly the same as the first, place dabs of the new colour elsewhere on the canvas. It then looks deliberate!

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Once everything was blocked in, she then started to add the detail using a smaller brush. She gave tips on how to draw and paint the eyes, thinking about the shape, where the light falls for shadows and highlights, using the edge of her canvas to illustrate - as you can see in the photos.  She insisted 'don't use white for the eyes' - use a skin tone instead and it will look more realistic.  She showed how to bring things forward by adding contrast in line and texture. The pattern on the shirt was just suggested with quick brush strokes.  Finally, Fatima used compressed charcoal and soft pastel to add line and colour interest to the hair, face and clothing.  The lovely Fatima is pictured alongside her finished portrait below.

 

 

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