First full day of summer, first artwork. I'm going to do a portrait painting of one of my all-time favorite actors, Cary Grant. I thought I'd take the Proko community along for the ride, explaining my steps as I go for anyone interested in exploring this technique, even if they're not necessarily interested in the subject. That technique being a classic illustration-style mixed-media application, my current préféré, made popular by my art daddy Drew Struzan with his movie posters in the 80s and 90s. It is a fairly popular method, however, used by other illustrators of the day and even by some contemporary ones as well. These include Richard Amsel, Bob Peak, Matt Busch, and Mike Butkus, to name a few. And I'm showing it here because I think it's a rather unused... disused?... undervalued approach, not spoken of too often in fine art/academic art circles. So let's go! Step one is the most important. The drawing! This is done with regular graphite on a 10"x15" heavyweight Crescent cold-pressed illustration board, #110. The surface doesn't have to specifically be this, but I wouldn't recommend doing it on canvas or hardboard. It might be okay on watercolor paper, though, or something that's at least heavy enough to support the layers of paint. I like illustration board because it's cheap, stiff, and very absorbent, perfect for the washes I'm about to do. And because I'm not too worried about having to redo this, I'm going straight ahead on the raw illustration board, no preparatory steps needed, but you could do it over a layer or two of gesso if you wanted. Drew would tint his gesso gray, but again, I'm just going straight in. Just watch out for adhesion issues if you do opt for a primed surface like that. Also, with this approach, the drawing is essential to the outcome. Solidly designed shapes and confident lines are a must, for they not only serve as a guide for your later stages, but since a lot of it will show through the transparent layers, you want it to look like a finished artwork from the jump. And that's the whole reason I like this technique, because at every stage it can look like a finished piece. The further you go, though, the better it becomes. Notice how I've gone for a lot of big lines, distinct shapes, and heavy hatching. This is because I want to convey masculinity in this painting. I've also taken this fairly far into the rendering with just the pencil. It will save me some tedium in expressing those values in paint later on, but also adds to the overall texture and mood that I'm aiming for as it goes. This technique is kind of like tinting a drawing rather than purely painting a portrait. Makes things go fast once things start going, if that makes any sense. Anyway, let me know what you think! Hit me up with any questions!