Impromptu Oil Portrait

Here’s a quick oil sketch of a guy I met at a friend’s house. It’s painted on an 11x14 inch piece of gray cardboard, which was first sealed with acrylic matte medium.

He was telling the story of one of his adventures so I knew he’d be there a while. I asked him to sit near a light and try to remember one position and return to it from time to time.

I’ve found most people are willing or even flattered to oblige such a request, and I cherish the resulting paintings far more than I would a study of a stranger from a sketch group.