Allen Williams, Painting

I asked Allen Williams if I could paint him while he worked at Illustration Master Class in Amherst, Massachusetts yesterday. He said yes, so I set up my little casein easel.

I love Allen's artwork, which has infinite depths and the quiet rhythms of Nature. I was attracted to him as a subject because of the joyful, focused attention he brings to his work.

Allen Williams, painted by James Gurney. Photo by Lauren Panepinto.

Cool window light flooded his work area from behind, and the room lights were relatively warm. I had to decide between framing his profile against the dark painting or the cool window, and I think it could have worked either way.

Over a colored pencil lay-in, I washed in some warm and cool tones and started to establish the darks with a half-inch flat synthetic brush.

Now I'm blocking in big areas. I want the profile silhouetted against the light, but that dark edge of the painting is too hard.

I soften and cool that edge. I rub out and repaint the ear a couple of times, and sort out the big plane changes on his back. I switch to a smaller round as I paint details of his face.

Next I define the hand, add more detail in the hair, and a little more resolution in Allen's painting.

Scroll back up to the top for the finish, where I add the glasses, the mahl stick and I rework the bottom edge of the vignette.

I used the following colors of casein:
Titanium white

Cadmium red
Brushes:
Synthetic half-inch flat
Synthetic round #6
Sketchbook:
Watercolor journal

Allen Williams' website