Pink Hair

7" x 5" Oil on Panel

I don't know if Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, or John Singer Sargent ever got to paint a model whose hair wasn't a natural color. These days, however, those who practice the old craft of oil painting from life have plenty of opportunities for the challenge of painting from models who's hair (or even skin) is an artificial hue. Of course it's irrelevant to the quality of the painting, but it is different, and can throw a little fun into a painting session. The model for yesterday's portrait session had pink hair. An unnatural color, but one I could still approximate with a modified "Zorn" palette of cadmium yellow, cadmium red, ivory black, and white. Such a limited palette works for me at these sessions, but if one day a model shows up with neon green or electric blue locks, I'll have to break out another color or two for the ol' palette!

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing."