Portrait Study w/ the Zorn Palette

Haven't done a portrait for a long time even though it is one of my favorite subjects. I like painting from life, but usually difficult to find time and resources for this.

Since I've been exploring the Zorn Palette via the Online Watts Atelier, it seems that a good photo reference might be enough to get in some portrait practice. So I used one of their photos (part of an online lesson).

This lesson is done with an umber under painting and then painted in color with 'yup, you guessed it' the Zorn Palette.

Burnt Umber Portrait Underpainting

Burnt umber is, IMHO, a harsh color, and not a favorite of mine. I could have done more to refine this under painting, but I sometimes get impatient and move ahead if I anticipate learning something new. The resulting color study (painted over the under painting) was quite pleasant to do.

Portrait using the Zorn Palette
9x12 Oil on Canvas Sheet

Now the interesting thing is when I use to work at painting a portrait, I had all kinds of colors on my palette, and honestly confused myself on a regular basis. The Zorn Palette is still new for me, so I'm not 100% on point with its color values yet, and shadows are always difficult from a photo. However, I think this palette does a nice job of giving good flesh tones for a portrait painting.

Yes, I believe I'm going to try another soon... ;o)