This book is free.

Give it away to an Art Geek.

 Presentations

Why have I written this book? 1

Who are we? 2
Menorca Pulsar, Art Farm 3
Who is Sean Cheetham? 4

Philosophy

Learn to learn 52
Efficiency 59
Don't paint things 64

Drawing

Materials 78
Sketches 80
Drawing 85
Value 89
 Painting

Principles 96
Organizing values 99
Organizing temperatures 101
Organizing brushwork 105
Materials 111

Mud Palette

Mud Palette 115

Pre-mixes 121
Demonstration 127
Tips for finishing 162

Annexes

Portrait gallery 169

Participants 199
Credits 200
Travel companions 201
Downloads 203
Workshops 208
I admit that I may be giving you the perfect excuse not to travel to a lost island in the midst of
the Mediterranean Sea to study with Sean Cheetham in person. But you have no excuse for not
learning: here I explain everything, and for free†.
This is the book I wish I came across when I started painting, in the hard times when I was
disoriented and without a penny in my pocket. I know now a book like this would have
helped... It arrived late for me, but maybe not for you.
We may not get to know each other personally, but at least I want to give myself the pleasure of
putting this knowledge in your hand. I hope you find it useful and share it with others you
know who will take advantage of it. Cheers!

† We try to produce a book a year, in addition to several interviews and resources. We do it this way
because we don't like advertising and we believe that this way you’ll get the good vibes we put into
this project. We think it’s better to focus our resources on making good books rather than swimming in
the sea of social media and Google for your attention.

1
Hi! We are Carles Gomila and Jorge Fernández Alday, two professional artists who organize
workshops in paradise with great teachers. We love meeting people like you, and we make sure
during your stay at Menorca, you’ll only breathe artist paint and experience good vibes ;)
During our workshops, you will live at a rural house in the middle of the countryside, where
you will be surrounded by nature and be ‘super’ well attended for. At the rural house we gather
artists from all over the world with the purpose of painting at full throttle and living with a
great teacher.
We are our first customers, and we are VERY demanding. We know that you would love to get
to know the teacher and the rest of the participants better, have some wine, talk until the wee
hours about painting and so many other things.
Does this sound good to you?

2
Did you ever dream of having a few wines with your favorite artist and with a group of art
lovers?
Menorca Pulsar is an Art farm where not improving is not an option. Our rural house is in the
perfect place to get inspired: Menorca, a small island in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea.
During Spring and Fall –two magical seasons on the island where everything is in perfect calm–
a teacher and a tribe of artists from all over the world come together to share work and free
time.
Our motto: “if a workshop does not transform you, it’s not a good workshop.”

† If you want to learn more about Menorca Pulsar, check out our website: menorcapulsar.com

† You can also download a PDF manual with all the information about Menorca Pulsar by clicking here.

3
4
OCCUPATION:
Painter.
Illustrator
Teacher.
Knifemaker.
Tattoo artist.

ABILITIES:
Hockey.
Electric guitar.
Whip.

OTHER INTERESTS:
Magnum PI.
Star Wars.
Cowboy wannabe.
“IAMAGEEK” (5% off coupon) :)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Unlike most “paint bosses” who taught at Menorca Pulsar, Sean Cheetham
does not paint every day. For him, it works better to alternate between
different activities, creating great stuff at each of them.
Sean Cheetham is a simple guy who likes to play hockey, Magnum PI, Star
Wars, playing guitar, shaking whips and forging knives. By the way, he
can paint an entire exhibition as well as illustrate a publication, or
make a tattoo... And the damn bastard (no offense, we love you, Sean,
though we’re green with envy) can overcome the “unfocused syndrome” and
do it all reasonably well, or very well, even incredibly well.

As he says —and he doesn't joke— “...it seems that resting makes me no

good.”

And, what’s best for us: to top it all, he’s an amazing teacher. One who
works his ass off because he loves what he does, who is generous and has
no secrets for anyone. One of those formidable creatures in danger of
extinction. A teacher with whom you want to have a beer after washing the
brushes.

5
 This is Sean Cheetham's
grandfather, who was a sculptor,
surrounded by sculptures for the
Chinese government.

Sean believes that he has a certain

natural inclination towards Art,
although he admits that natural
talent is only a seed that we must
look after so that something can
sprout from it.

He believes, above it all, in hard

work.

His grandmother also had a clear

inclination towards Art. As you
can see by this self-portrait.

6
 When he was a kid he
didn't think of Art as a
professional career, and
he dreamed about being
an astronaut or a
cowboy. Something that
sounded cool.

One of his dreams was

being a firefighter; it’s
weird, all the firemen
he drew always smoked.

He was about four or five

years old when he made
these drawings.

7
 As a child, he copied
the ads from skate
magazines.

Today he still wears

Vans and remembers
with nostalgia when
they only cost $25.

He also loved
motorcycles. Same as
now.

Things have not

changed much ever
since, and he still
works on the same
things that fascinated
him as a kid.

He also did many

drawings related to
surfing.

He was about seven

years old when he did
this drawing.

8
 These are his parents
lying in bed.

Here he was already

trying to be realistic
and introduced
foreshortening. He
didn't learn perspective
in school, but he drew
in perspective
naturally from a very
young age.

His love for cowboys was

very premature, and his
entire artistic career
is imbued with a
fascination with
Western motifs.
Something that has not
changed over time.

This drawing is a testimony of when

the ‘Sharks’ came to town. It’s a good
attempt at drawing realistically, but
the legs fell short when trying to fit
them on the page. "The usual mistake,"
Sean jokes.

9
10
 Training and illustration

Sean grew up in a family of artists of Chinese origin, and his youth was impregnated with the
Art craft. His main goal was to work in Star Wars, a desire that grew bigger when, as a teenager,
he crossed paths with Erik Tiemens. Although he says he did not understand very well what he
was doing at that time.
In 1998 he began studying in San Francisco, where he came into contact with some incredible
professors, both from the publishing and illustration fields, as well as from realism. Every kid is
wowed by realism, and at that moment he began to draw and paint the human figure.
He considered illustration as a professional career, but when he finished his studies he decided
that he preferred to alternate teaching with art galleries. Sean admits he was lucky, since he was
in the right place, at the right time and with the right portfolio.
He spent a few years teaching full time. But recently he has decreased his classes to focus on
short intense workshops, collectors’ commissions and galleries. In addition to developing his
hobbies, which are not few: forging knives, tattoo, guitar, and hockey.
His influences were what you would expect from any kid interested in painting: Sargent, Zorn,
Sorolla, Velázquez, Rembrandt, etc. But also the classic American illustration: Dean Cornwell,
Harvey Dunn, Howard Pyle, NC Wyeth, Leyendecker, etc.
His evolution has been more thematic than technical. Nowadays he’s interested in the Western
scene, and how to integrate his main activity outside of painting, which is forging knives.

This was his first serious attempt to gain a

portfolio that would help him to enter the
illustration sector.

«You can tell here that I was starting to

party too much», Sean jokes.

The portfolio was inspired by the

aesthetics of tattoos and the rockabilly
genre. Although he had no goal at this
point, the urban club culture was very
inspiring.

The illustration is made in acrylic and he

managed to sell it, which gave him some
hope and expectations of being able to
work in the sector.

11
 When he was at Community
College, he still did not think
about devoting himself to art, at
that age he didn’t care very much
about anything.

He was seventeen or eighteen

when he did this watercolor,
during the first semester. His
teacher was an old glory coming
from the photo-realistic 70's
generation, James Torlakson.

Sean loved working on the details of complicated scenes, with buildings and cars. This is a watercolor of the neighborhood
where he grew up. Although it was only a plotting exercise from photographs, Sean admits that it was very inspiring and a
very useful exercise to learn illustration techniques and getting a steady hand.

This is a current photograph of the location from where

Sean got the inspiration to paint the previous watercolor.

Jonny Nipon’s is gone, but it hasn't changed that much,

right?

12
Life study made with a ballpoint
pen and white chalk.

He made this drawing during the

first semester of human figure
drawing at the Art Center.

Sean remembers this model with

love.
1. 2. 1. Another illustration made at
the Art Center. Sean
remembers that computers
were not used then and that
everything was analog. He says
sorry for the proportions.

2. Illustration of Judge Judy

(Judge Judy, American
television series that debuted in
1997 and is still ongoing). He
does not remember what
project this illustration was
part of, nor the reason he did
it. He never sold it and gave it
to his grandmother, who loved
the series.

One day, Sean saw his mother's cousin's boyfriend painting a Plein-air landscape. That guy was
none other than Erik Tiemens, the famous illustrator. He loved the job he did, although at the
time he admits that he still didn't quite understand how he did it.
His biggest dream at twenty was to participate in the production of Star Wars, and at that time
Tiemens was working there. Seeing him paint inspired him to study art because he also wanted
to be an artist and work in the entertainment sector. The proximity of that possibility
fascinated him during his adolescence and was his main inspiration.
Then he decided that he wanted to devote himself to illustration to have the opportunity to
work on Star Wars, or similar projects. He wanted to be part of an illustration department for
some cool projects.
He never worked on Star Wars¹. But, years later, he painted a commission for Carrie Fisher's
daughter. When he went to meet her she welcomed him with a lightsaber, and that was the
most surreal situation he has seen in his artistic career: Princess Leia welcoming him at home,
waving a lightsaber. It was worth studying art just to see that.

1. He might not get to work directly on Star Wars, but he

managed to get George Lucas himself to choose him to
participate in his Star Wars Visions book.

14
 This is one of his first designs,
after finishing his studies, for
some t-shirts.

He barely had any knowledge of

Photoshop (he had only attended
one class), and he managed to find
out how it worked how it is used
to work on the finishes.

Already in his beginnings, he

decided to develop an artistic
career working with art galleries,
while teaching at the LA Academy
of Figurative Arts.

Another illustration from the

same time, of which he only keeps
an old print in his studio. Those
stains you see are Gamsol.

He did it with red and black

ballpoint pens on white bristol
paper. Then he fixed the drawing
and painted on it. What he did
with the red ballpoint pen is what
also looks blue now, because he
covered it with electric blue.

It took him a week to do it and he

was paid $250, so it didn't go very
well. But he learned to handle the
tools and the damn Photoshop.

Michael Hussar

At school, he met Michael Hussar as a teacher, who taught

him the basics of painting and opened his eyes and heart to
oil painting.

Sean learned his system from Michael, with subtle

variations. It’s a very common procedure in the world of
illustration: fast, efficient and straight to the point.

On the right you can see a fragment of an alla

prima portrait by Michael Hussar, that looks amazing.

15
In 2007, he played hockey on Thursday nights with a handful of guys who worked at the
animation departments of Dreamworks, Disney, and The Simpsons. A colleague from
Dreamworks moved to Canada to work at a video game company, and from there Sean got
some character illustration commissions for Final Fantasy.
The guys from Final Fantasy had seen his paintings and wanted to try more naturalistic
illustrations, away from the Japanese style; in fact, it was the first time they designed something
for this game outside of Japan.
So through hockey, he got the first jobs for the video game industry. He started working on it
in Los Angeles under NDA contracts, designing characters at the art department.

To make this illustration, Sean dressed a model in a cape Execution sequence:

made from a piece of imitation leather, which he shaped
with cardboard. 1. Photographic session and composition in Photoshop.

They needed it super fast and in high resolution, so he 2. Pencil tracing and acrylic pre-paint (gentle washes).
worked small size to go fast and fit in his scanner. Its size 3. He painted his face in an hour, in a class demonstration.
allowed it to retain the boldness of the brushstroke,
something that would have been lost in a larger size. 4. He painted the rest in one session of about 3 hours.

16
He executed this painting in one session but worked for He worked with a model from the school, who he wrapped
days in photo shoots with armor made of paper and up in a red velvet drapery and an armored arm that he got
costumes. In order for something to look real, Sean needs at a cheap costume store. The neck of the armor is nothing
references that contain the information necessary to create but a piece of chrome duct tape on cardboard.
the illusion that it is real.
Another illustration from the Final Fantasy collection ancient Chinese sword from 1700, from his collection, as a
where Sean used huge amounts of chrome duct tape on reference.
corrugated cardboard, which he cut to the shape of the
This is the third of four characters that were commissioned
armor pieces.
to him, but they canceled the delivery date, they paid him
He complemented all this with vinyl tapes and a French for the job, and they were never heard from again. Anyway,
braid that he learned to do by watching tutorials on the project was canceled, but fortunately, he got paid for
YouTube. For the upper half of the sword, he used an the job.
 Galleries

Sean has a love-hate relationship with Art galleries. There is a part of his production that sells
very well, but he refuses to produce more tattooed girls for money. Thinking about money is
unavoidable and that conditions his painting, so he’s burnt out with the sector.
Art is the artist's vision, but sometimes galleries want to impose theirs, trying to implant
themes that sell more and thereby sterilize creativity.
Sean is now dedicated to painting his personal work, whether the galleries like it or not. It’s not
the artist's job to give the audience what they ask for. If the public knew what they want, they
would be artists themselves. The artist's job is to give the public what they need, not what they
want. And at this point, the gallery owners have great confusion, caused by their ambition and
their aversion to accepting challenges.
When his gallerists see work that they don't like, they tell him that those will be difficult to sell
and that he should change them. But Sean doesn't give a damn if they like it or not, because he
understands that gallerists work for him, and not the other way around. Selling is their job, and
painting is his job. But they usually stick to the idea that the artist's work is double: to produce
and to sell. But it's not like that.
Currently, he continues working with galleries and collectors, but he keeps his distance when
they tell him what he should do. All the paintings you see below were painted for art galleries.
They’re made from photographs and do not have much to do with the demonstrations that
Sean makes in class.

19
 Chantal portrait.

This is a small 5x7” drawing of

Chantal Menard that he decided
not to sell.

It’s drawn with one of those

yellow school pencils on crappy
paper.

20
It was around 2004 when he submitted this «I am pretty good about losing», he
portrait to the BP award, spending $800 on jokes. It was at this point that he decided
shipping, and did not win. He decided to to put aside teaching and focus more on
keep the painting and not sell it, even though painting for art galleries.
Michelle Pfeiffer insisted on buying it.
 Pelt. 10x8”, 2005

He started working with art

galleries in 2002 when the
economy was in quite good
health. He even sold many of
the paintings he made at
school.

Little by little, his reputation

grew and he was able to work
with more prestigious
galleries, where he used to sell
90% of his works. His artistic
career was going very well
from the very first moment.
Erin. 8x10”, 2005.

This work is part of a series of

8x10 ”paintings that sold
fantastically well in art galleries.

Sean painted them in one sitting.

He worked about five hours with
some alkyd, allowed the paint to
settle while he rested, and finished
it in a second session the same day.
Spoonful of Sugar. 45x30”, 2005. He wanted to explore those foggy days in contrasting against the white atmosphere as
his neighborhood back then, when he lived if it were a French painting.
This work is larger than the ones he was
in Northern California, working on softer,
used to paint, and he didn't feel very People pay a lot of attention to the broken
more subdued paintings.
comfortable. It’s part of a series for his first umbrella rod. Maybe they think it's some
solo exhibition. He took several reference photographs of kind of metaphor.
his ex-wife in black jackets, strongly

26
Moraga Heights. 45x30”, 2005.

The same series: textures,

umbrellas, black jackets, soft and
faded colors, light backgrounds,
etc.

The paint is thin and smooth, and

he used acrylic washes first.
Turtle Hill. 45x30”, 2005.

More from the same series at

Turtle Hill. The poor dog died,
after twenty years of company.
His name was Roscoe and he
appears in many of his works.
Bone Amie.
This is a large 36x60” work of Chantal Menard, painted in 2006. It’s a contemporary
interpretation of those classic works of semi-nude and reclining odalisques.
All the work that goes to the galleries is on board, he rarely works on canvas. This work is
painted on a primed wood board, with about three or four layers of gesso. The preparation is
golden, as you can see.
Most of the work is done very thin. For example, the pink cushion, which is a scrub with dots
on top. Many of the sofa's textures are scrubbed and scratched to bring out the golden priming.
The background is painted in a very economical way but with a very convincing effect; the fact
that it is painted looser than the figure reinforces its focal point.
Sean did not have the background painted until the night before the exhibition opened. When
he saw the work on the wall of the gallery it seemed to him that it was not finished, so he took
it home to paint the background in one night. The next day they hung it up again for the
opening and it was sold right away.

30
Black Lamb. 20x15”, 2007.

Tattoos and dark jackets on a light

background. Nothing is clipped
and everything blends into a
subdued atmosphere, turning the
shape into the shadows. He was
looking for a feeling of cold
naturalism.
 Golden shower. 12x16”, 2007

This series is a head turn

sequence: left profile, front
profile, right profile. He was
trying to experimenting.

In use. 12x16”, 2007

Stationary. 12x16”, 2007

33
He did this in a five-hour demonstration «It was an accident playing Hockey, but
for his students. He painted it over a pre- it wasn't with a stick. I had a fight and I
paint made with a very soft acrylic wash. lost», he says, asking about the black
eye.
Crossroads is a large, 10x5 feet diptych.

He started it with black gesso on white gesso, using water

for the grays. Sean uses rulers, tapes and any tools or tricks
that exist to paint.

Then he applied a turquoise glaze over the work done with

black gesso. A little alla prima work for the grass and so
forth, and that's it. There is very little painting in this
work.

He painted alla prima, with impasto, the focal points in

more detail, and the rest is transparent paint on black gesso.
There are areas where there is a lot of thick paint and areas
where there is hardly a light wash of paint. The whites are
also painted with impasto, to regain luminosity after cold
washing.

In this painting, his dog was very sick and was dying. The
painting immortalizes a moment where it is about to
This is a portrait of his deceased dog Roscoe. It is part of
transfer from one painting to another (crossroads). He used
the personal works that he does only for fun, as a personal
some traditional clothes from his wardrobe for western
diary. He loved painting it.
themes. This work is part of his personal diary, capturing
that precise moment in his life. It’s an oil from 2011 on watercolor paper, 5x5”.

38
 Western

Sean is passionate about western. But not the modern western, but the classic one, like the one
he saw when he was a child. His most recent work is 100% focused on a personal and
contemporary interpretation of this genre.
From the Western Scene, he’s interested in aesthetics, themes and why not say it, the gangsters
and violence just because.

41
 Modelo Especial. 21x14”, 2013

42
Coach Robbers.

This work is 100% Sean as if it were his signature. It’s

unique and unmistakable and with a clear reference to John
Wayne.

The work was painted after a photoshoot by Sean with his

colleagues. He was on the roof of his truck, and with
Photoshop he added the weapon, photographed in the
same light. The two colleagues were photographed holding
a gun and pulling ropes. Then he put it all together and it
worked.

The austere and subdued color is a reference to the golden

age of American illustration. The illustrators, in order to
save printing resources, were limited to working with
white, black and a color. Usually, the color was red, yellow,
or blue. Harvey Dunn and Howard Pyle, among others, Above is a good example of how Howard Pyle limited his
worked with this super-limited palette. palette in book illustrations.

44
 Lion. 10x8”, 2013

45
colleagues, both with variations on their touches to create unity of value, color
faces. coherence and variety in faces, hats,
clothing, etc.
References are not photographic. He
recorded a video with his phone in slow Then he may project it, he may
motion and made screenshots of the reinterpret everything, he may draw it
moments he liked the most. from scratch on the panel ...

He used those captures to work the Sean does not have a fixed process and
composition and then made the necessary each work has its own needs.
 «My hobby is not my jobby»

What would Sean do if he didn't paint? Rest assured that he would dedicate himself to the
ancient art of making knives, an art perhaps older and more delicate than that of painting. Sean
is passionate about knives and, as a good fetishist, collects antique knives, daggers, and swords
that he acquires at auctions.
When he wants to relax, Sean goes to the forge and makes knives, designing the blade, the
handle and the sheath from scratch, with the humility of a goldsmith but with the ambition of
an artist.
He never sells his knives because he wants to keep his hobby as a legitimate recess, like a real
escape valve where there is no money at stake, no customers, no delivery dates. He already has
that pressure in the painting, and he does not want to contaminate the purity of his hobby. On
the other hand, a knife takes so much work that putting a price on it would be crazy.
Sean would like to somehow integrate knife forging and painting. Combine the two activities
in some way. He still doesn't know how, but maybe the western theme is a good way to do it.
We'll be on alert!

Sean has made himself a pair of specific knives to sharpen

his pencils: a classic scissor razor blade, and a mini kitchen
knife. To the dozens of requests from his students, he says
that he does not sell his knives because «my hobby is not
my jobby». They are for him and his friends, and he makes
them for pleasure.

49
To get to know Sean better we recommend the interview that
we did posted at Menorca Pulsar Podcast.
You can view it by clicking here.

50
51
 What works and what does not work

The problem with art schools.

W
ithin the academic bubble there is no difference between academia and the real
world; although, in the real world, that difference exists.
Schools transmit knowledge that makes sense within schools but is hardly
appropriate outside them. By doing this, they feed the vicious circle of
students who, in turn, become new generations of teachers who perpetuate instructions
without practical scope outside the classroom.
«Schools are factories of teachers, not artists», says Sean forcefully. And he’s not far from
being right. A statement very similar to the one made by the philosopher and essayist Nassim
Taleb, when he states that «a teacher teaches you above all to be a teacher».

Problem # 1: «we do not study for life, but for the classroom»¹.
Due to a mistake in the historical interpretation of traditional methods, art schools ended up
becoming a set of standards of convenience. Consequently, the way in which painting is taught
was bureaucratized, anesthetizing the students' instincts to solve unknown problems.
An artist with an academic training tends to look for themes and situations that allow him to
exhibit what he has been taught to do well. Thus, in his fear of facing new problems that arise
while painting, he prefers to take shelter inside self-satisfying.

1. Lucio Anneo Seneca (4 B.C.—65 A.D.) expressed this

problem this way: Non vitae, sed scolae discimus, «we
do not study for life, but for the classroom.»
This question is dealt with extensively within the book
on Costa Dvorezky.

52
Problem # 2: sophistication sells, but it doesn't work.
Sean claims that the solution to this unnecessary ideological sophistication is for students —
and teachers— to forget ceremonies and get to the point, as they focus too much on the more
romantic and impractical aspects of painting, neglecting efficiency in obtaining results.
On the other hand, sometimes schools are focused on outdated moral values: that if painting
from nature is better than painting from photographs, that if a digital painting cannot compete
with analog, etc. All of them are obsessions that block the creative potential of the students,
fitting them into an ideology.
Programs designed by teachers who have never put their skin in the game out there tend to be
overly complex theoretically and fall short in practice. But if what you want is to paint, start to
mistrust the excessive refinement proposed by teachers who are not really dedicated to
painting. It's just an excuse, so you think that in order to improve you need more classes.

Every method is questionable.

When you paint, you are not really looking for a result; you are looking for the most reasonable
approach to an emotion. And you do whatever it takes to achieve it by giving structure to that
emotion. To do this, in Sean's words, «There is no method. Period». Each teacher has a
different creative process because —fortunately— he interprets the world in a unique way. And
this is good.
Recipes are shortcuts that release the concentration ability necessary to achieve a higher
purpose. These shortcuts are fine as long as you are aware of the fact that they’re not a target.
They’re a reference, yes, but not a home.
You don't want to underestimate techniques but do never give them power. Empowering
them is the mark of an insecure artist. A book can teach you very useful technical things and
solve specific doubts, but after all, your process is your art, not the execution of a handful of
rules.
Techniques can be taught and there is nothing wrong with it; But if you want to learn how to
really paint, you must find your own solutions. Borrowing other artists’ resources —like the
ones I show you within this book— is good if you don't get caught up in them.
When you are painting you must keep your process open in order to make adjustments that you
had not anticipated. When something unexpected shows up on the scene, you have an
opportunity to add unique value to your painting. An unplanned, organic, natural, special
value.
You must use these opportunities so you can take advantage of the spark of an unexpected
moment, a gesture, a gaze, a mistake, a reaction... that is really painting: the perfect
combination of planning and instinct. The accent that makes everything make sense.

53
 There are
« no rules. »
Just Art.

54
Learn to make art by making art
Creativity is extremely counterintuitive. We generally think that our potential is reinforced if
we have more resources; However, the opposite happens: the more resources and eases you have,
the more you relax. Art needs pressure and limitation in order to make solid decisions,
finding new ways to avoid limitations that do not exist in an environment without limitations.
Film director Aki Kaurismäki says that young filmmakers do not know how to use film cameras
because they no longer feel the cost of the material on their shoulders⁴. Also, you don't make
the same decisions with an analog camera, when you have a 36 film roll and developing cost, as
you do with a digital camera. The limitation and the risk associated with the cost of error
sharpens your inventiveness.
Bringing these reflections to the world of the ‘plastic’ arts leads us to speculations of the most
disturbing nature. When you risk everything and you only have ten seconds to act, making an
optimal decision as quickly as possible, your brain becomes inflamed and uprooted from the
ramblings and inflamed, making an optimal decision as quickly as possible. And those decisions
are, according to Cheetham, the best decisions.
What if you only had one paper available per day? What if you did not know how long each
exercise will last? What if you could only spend ten seconds looking at the model every 30
minutes? Try and be convinced: there is no learning without pressure.

Copying.
If anything went well for Sean in learning to paint it was copying masterpieces. At first, it felt
like a bummer and he didn't want to, but fortunately, he was forced to do it at school. And it
went so well that, even today, he says «copying is essential».
We are all more or less influenced by the great masters and only if you copy their work, can you
you can understand how they did it. This copying takes you beyond the hypnotic effect that
occurs from the result the great masters create. You only think you know how Sargent painted
until you copy his work and you discover that in the lights there is more pink than you
remembered, or that the brushstroke is much longer than you thought.
You don't have to go to a museum and copy a masterpiece for weeks, you can make several quick
copies in an hour and get the same useful knowledge. One of the exercises Sean proposes in his
workshop is to make master copies in ten minutes so that the time limitation does not allow
you to get lost in the details and get obsessed over the fidelity of a beautiful result. Only the
essence, what really counts for learning.

4. «Young people no longer know how to use film cameras,

(...) because they could no longer feel the weight of the
cost of the material on their shoulders. And that's why
digital cinema will take us to hell. Because if the material
is worth nothing, nobody cares. (...) because if you can
film everything, then nothing matters».

56
 Repeating.
In addition to limitation and pressure, there
is the third ingredient in Sean's recipe:
repetition. Assume as soon as possible that
you need to practice many hours.
Practice is everything; good practice, which
is accompanied by breaks for digestion. The
good old habits.
Sean is capable of an excellent head drawing
in twenty minutes, or a portrait painting of
an hour-long sitting. Seeing is believing.
And when Sean nails it at a demonstration
it’s because he’s done hundreds of them.
That twenty-minute demonstration
draws energy and confidence from
thousands of hours of practice. It’s not a
superpower, it’s repetition.
Painting is very difficult and it will be easier
the more practice you accumulate. And if
Twenty-minute live demonstration. The drawing is made
Sean himself has needed thousands of hours
with 2B charcoal pencil and white highlights, both by of practice... what makes you think that you
General’s, on Canson paper. will need less than him?
He likes to use General’s charcoal pencil for this kind of
drawings because they’re dry and, since they do not contain
wax or greases that adhere to the fibers of the paper, they Internalizing for unlocking potential.
do not permanently stain the drawing.
Ernesto Sábato says that «an educated
person is someone who has already forgotten
scholarship». Similarly, a good painter is one
who has already forgotten to apply the
techniques.
Only when you internalize methods can you
afford to focus on higher matters.
Repetition: That is the overwhelming secret
of the superhuman abilities of the artists we
admire.

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 Summary:

Learn to learn

The problem of art schools:

† They are factories of teachers, not factories of artists..
† They promote comfort and lack risk, repressing learning.
† Teachers are focused on romantic stuff and do not get to the point.

Question the methods:

† Do not underestimate the techniques, but do never give them power.
† Develop your own solutions, don't get caught up in others'.
† Combine planning and instinct.

How to learn:
† Put your skin in the game when making your decisions, limit your resources, and put
yourself under pressure.
† Copy the great masters.
† Practice a lot and internalize techniques in order to unleash potential.

58
S
ean was trained as an illustrator and practiced for a time. This experience led him to
understand the keys to working fast because, the faster he was, keeping the same level
of quality, the more money he could earn. So he had, in addition to urgent delivery
dates, a good incentive to improve the efficiency of his painting.
Paradoxically, Sean knows perfectly that the slower you go, the faster you finish: festina lente¹,
«hurry up slowly». This means that your execution will be faster the longer you take to observe
the model and organize your palette. Good organization prevents mistakes from appearing,
saving you a lot of time on corrections, while avoiding wasting time wandering around the
palette like a headless chicken.

1. The Latin phrase festina lente translates as «hurry up slowly»; in Spanish, it can be translated as
«dress me slowly I'm in a hurry». And in English as «Haste makes waste». It’s usually represented by
this anagram, where the anchor symbolizes safety and the dolphin symbolizes speed. Diligence and
tenacity.

59
 Take your time on
« everything if you »
want to paint fast.

60
Drawing efficiency.
The trick to drawing more efficiently is to work the line and the area at the same time. In this
way, if the drawing is wrong, the correction takes less time to arrive than when you separate the
two phases. If you notice that the drawing is wrong when you are already setting the values, you
are less efficient because you notice the error late.
The secret to working fast is to notice mistakes as soon as possible, so you don't waste time
getting back on track. On the other hand, the panic of losing the drawing that has cost you so
much to build triggers a psychological resistance to rectifying the mistake at the root and trying
to save the work you already made by making fixes that make everything worse.

Overworking, overthinking.
Sean observed his students for many years and concluded that most of them have the same
problems. No matter how much time they have to paint, almost everyone works the same way,
to Sean this is very suspicious. If they are given little time, they stay halfway; And if they are
given a lot, they finish earlier and ruin their work accumulating unnecessary touch-ups, with
the ambition of showing off a neater finishing. Very few people understand that they must
adjust their decisions to the time they have.
Sean is convinced that most bad paintings accumulate too many decisions and the painting
would improve a lot if the artist limited the execution time. Almost always, you can say more
with less and, in painting, everything that is not essential is not necessary. And it detracts
from what’s important.
Seriously, you don't need thirty hours to finish a portrait. You need to learn to prioritize the
decisions that really count when giving structure to an emotion. You also need to learn when
to leave the painting alone. Time limiting, while it may seem like a terrible idea, tests your
ability to limit and prioritize the decisions you can make.
Fortunately, Sean has also observed that this criterion can be educated with training designed
specifically for this purpose, which I will talk about later. You learn a lot knowing how to
manage decisions at a certain time, and the improvement is noticeable in just five days of the
workshop. In this sense, the goal of Sean's workshop is clear: he forces you to change your
mindset, pull up your socks, and start moving on.

61
Most common mistakes.
These are the most common mistakes that Sean has observed at his workshops:
1. Neglecting the drawing— Most artists are so eager to paint that they start without
having the previous drawing well resolved, which ruins the work from the beginning.
Painting on a bad drawing is a guaranteed failure.
2. Not setting the value keys — Many painters fail by not darkening the shadows enough,
and then they must step back and rectify them, making everything dirty. You have to set the
key for the dark values on the palette from the very beginning.
3. Neglecting transitions — Normally transitions between values, especially between dark
and mid-tones, are too abrupt. The halftone should blend with the correct value and in a
subtle way. This is usually the most difficult thing to learn.
4. Not trusting the palette — A big mistake is to use a disorganized palette. The artist
ends up guessing the mixtures rather than rationally consulting them on the color
management map that his palette is.
5. Not painting enough — Do not underestimate repetition. The urge to paint usually
consolidates what is learned. There is no other way of progressing.
6. Painting without an emotional goal — The irrepressible anxiety for trying to paint
something beautiful monopolizes the ability to focus, preventing the mental disposition
necessary to make decisions based on the way things feel.
Sean makes clear that there is nothing wrong with making mistakes, as long as we identify them
and work hard to overcome them by exercising, if possible, painting from life.

The four challenges of exercising from life.

1. Practice — we must exercise daily in order to be skilled in execution and analysis. More
repetition leads to more internalization, which frees up resources to deal with more complex
issues.
2. Limited time — we must distill the complexity of the model with a synthetic reading
that adapts to the time we have for working. The stopwatch pressure is good for learning at
a good pace.
3. Limited values — we cannot work all the variety of values that we perceive, we must edit
that number very low, and have them well organized on the palette.
4. Perception — we must simplify diversity. That means that instead of exaggerating detail,
it's always better to exaggerate the basic structure.

62
 Summary:

Efficiency

How to be more efficient:

† Take your time to observe the model and organize your palette.
† Detect the error as soon as possible.
† Everything that is not essential is unnecessary.

Main mistakes:
† Neglecting drawing and transitions.
† Not trusting the palette.
† Painting without an emotional goal.

Exercises:
† Practice a lot in order to free up resources.
† Limit values and execution time.
† Focus on the structure, not the details.

63
W
hen H.P. Lovecraft describes a monstrosity, he first recounts the sensation his
vision produces, and after the reader has experienced it in his flesh and bones,
he validates it by giving a few words on its tentacular appearance. Do you think
his stories would arouse the same dread at having described the monster's
appearance in the first place? Why should this principle be different in painting?
In any of the arts, the illusion of things is better than their description. So Sean Cheetham
says that «you have to avoid painting things», leaving the door open for people to get
emotionally involved in the work. If you just describe what you see, that door is closed.
A face is not made of shapes, but of the light that builds them. If you create the illusion of light
by revealing its shapes, instead of reproducing them, you will get the portrait of a living person.
Instead, the mere description produces an inert mask, the simulacrum of a face. Your purpose
as an artist is to create the illusion of life, not its simulacrum.

64
« None of this is real. »
It’s an illusion.

65
Create the illusion that information exists.
Sean says he loves it when «you don't have to paint everything», and uses hair as an example.
Obviously, to create the illusion of hair you’re forced not to incur its literal description, that is,
to try to paint thousands of hairs. That would be crazy, right?
The key is painting the light that reveals the general shape while suggesting its properties with
the brush. The brushstroke that transmits the sensation of hair symbolizes the hair, since the
drag of the brush evokes by analogy its soft and wavy fall, expressing its very nature. In other
words, the brush behaves and feels like hair. It is not magic, but it’s the closest thing to magic.
It is clear that the sum of hairs cannot match that feeling since description is the opposite of
a metaphor. Sean says that beauty is in the communication of emotions, not in the
transmission of information and that the challenge is in creating the illusion that such
information exists through emotion.
Why don't you paint eyes the same way you paint hair? Could you paint an eye ignoring its
parts, just as you paint hair avoiding its countless single units? Could you paint the illusion of
a gaze rather than report the parts that build an eye?
When we paint we are reinterpreting and editing what we see in order to create an illusion. Sean
is not talking about a technique, but about the intention of sparking a sensitive response. This
involves knowing how to interpret the emotional facet you see in the model, as well as knowing
how to hit a nerve using plastic language. The technique is only the means used to achieve the
emotional response, but it is not the engine. The engine goes further: it is Art.

66
Fishing in murky water.
I will tell you a brief personal story that opened my eyes to the importance of illusion:
When I was little I liked to go fishing and I preferred murky water. When I fished in crystal clear
water I could see the bottom and the fish, which was disappointing: there was no surprise when
the fish bit the bait and it frustrated me when it didn't; also, it was hopeless when there were
no fish in sight.
Instead, murky water was exciting because in its unfathomable depth it was impossible to know
how many fish might be at the bottom, nor when they were going to bite the bait. Anything
could happen at any time.
This memory was left forgotten at some corner of my mind for decades until it revived when
reading this aphorism by Nicolás Gómez Dávila: «Confused ideas and murky ponds seem
deep». Soon after I saw a video by Drew Struzan in which he talked about how he used the
same phenomenon in his art.
And then I understood that only murky water harbors the possibility of depth and that an
open possibility is much more powerful than a certainty.
In a world where schools devote much of their programs to teaching detail-focused techniques,
it may seem strange that Sean recommends the exact opposite. Where to start, then? There are
two clear strategies:
1. Do not paint things, but the feeling that things cause.
2. Add variety, not more information, to create a sense of detail.

Illustrator Drew Struzan explains

that adding variety creates the
illusion that there is more detail
than there really is.

In this example, he uses the

splatter paint resource in order to
create noise, and with it, the
illusion of more detail. Had more
detail been painted rather than
added variety, the painting would
have lost its vitality.

Compare the illusion of realism in

a poster when it’s enlarged. There
is no detail on the cheek, but a
vibration that conveys the feeling
of detail.

68
The trick.
«My painting is very simple, but it looks complex; there is no real definition, it’s all tricks»—
Says Sean in a talk, while projecting this illustration.
The deal is knowing how to create the illusion that something is there, without the need for it
to actually be there. The trick, not necessarily in this order, is like this:
† Sean sets the points of interest in the object and paints them thoroughly.
† Then he fills in the rest with chaotic, undefined information.
The eye reads the chaos as having the same level of finish as the focal point, due to the effect of
logical continuity. The eye sees that there’s detail in there, and assumes that the rest is the same.
In other words, a few finished visual anchors induce the eye, by context, to assume that the
rest is also finished since the focal point acts as the center of interpretation of its immediate
environment.
«A little information here and there... but you don't need to deliver information everywhere»,
says Sean, as he projects an enlargement of the illustration you see above, where you can see that
he has hardly painted anything. Don’t you believe it? Go ahead and take a good look: it's a trick.

70
«Make it work.»
Sean doesn't care about correction; his goal is to make the painting work, to make it look good.
Sean, when painting a portrait in a demonstration, points to the nose and mouth saying «look,
this is wrong and this too... but it looks good because they work well together. It doesn't matter
if something is wrong or seems not to work, you can make it work».
This doesn’t have much to do with what you observe, but with your narrative intention. It’s
your personal choice, and the relationships between values are part of your story: contrast,
drama, hyperbole, information filtering, etc. There is no objective correction with such
parameters, but rather the success or failure of your narrative intention when you play
with them.
Every portrait has a light and shadow configuration with a clear hierarchy. You have to be clear
about that, and decide which one you’re going to set as the protagonist: will you keep lights
simplified and enrich the shadows, or will you do the opposite? There must be a dominant one
so that light and shadow work well and do not compete with each other, setting your priorities
and making your decisions beyond optical fidelity.
We all have personal tastes, and decisions are made based on our preferences. Follow your path
and make it work, you only need intuition, coherence, and the tenacity necessary to correct
your mistakes. «It's my painting, and I do what I want», says Sean, exaggerating a highlight
during his demonstration.
If some completely unnecessary, high-risk movement pops into your head, go ahead and try to
see what happens. This kind of call to action does not always lead to success but sometimes they
give you priceless opportunities. There is nothing wrong with making mistakes and aiming
to correct them, feeling your limits and your abilities.

According to Sean's approach, incorrect, in relation to each

there are as many realities as there individual.
are observers. An idea that is more
Protagoras would agree with Sean
than two thousand years old.
Cheetham when he says that «you
Man is the measure of all things don't need a plumb line to know
is an affirmation by Protagoras, if a line is straight». If it looks
the famous Greek sophist straight, it is straight. The eye
(485–411 BC). It’s a philosophical commands because we see
principle with a great through it, not through the
anthropocentric load, which instrument.
implies recognizing that the truth
In fact, the proportions of Greek
is relative to everyone.
art and architecture were arranged
For this reason, Aristotle to look good from the viewer's
interpreted that what Protagoras point of view, which, if we think
meant was that the same thing about it, is the only possible point
could be both correct and of view.

73
 If it looks fine, it's fine

Paint the singular.

There are artists who put what they know before what they see and vice versa. There is no right
way to do it and it’s a choice of style that concerns the personality of each artist. Cheetham's
case is curious because he does not disregard what he knows, but he has it so internalized that
he does not misrepresent what he sees. In music, it would be similar to playing without a score.
This way he unlocks the potential of his intuition and focuses on communicating the
uniqueness of the model. When you paint a nose, you paint the model's nose as you see it,
without going into generalizations about how it should be. The scaffold is inside his head and
he does not allow it to interfere with his painting, where only the organic variety of the
particular fits.

«Don't trust your mind.»

We have previously seen that variety, by itself, suggests an open emotional response where the
viewer actively participates. While pouring information only provides a rational reading,
closing any other possibility than the one imposed by the description. When Sean talks about
painting what he sees, he is not referring to creating a blueprint of reality, but to create an
illusion based on what we observe about it.
Sean relies more on the eye than the head, so his basic rule is simple: «If it looks wrong, it's
wrong». When there is something that seems wrong, it needs to be fixed before it affects the
rest of your decisions. Correction is not an objective, measurable and tangible asset.
Correction is a sensation that is perceived through the eye, intuitively. If you measure and
it’s fine according to your instruments and you still see it wrong, rest assured that it’s wrong.
A straight line, even if you have checked it with a plumb line, is not straight if you don't see it
straight. It all depends on the sensation that the observer has, not on the imposition of the tool.
The goal of your painting is to be appreciated through the eyes, and no sane person will audit
your painting with precision instruments: if it looks good, it is good, and if it looks bad, it is
bad. Period.
According to this principle, if we do not see an eye, although we know perfectly well that it is
there, there is no need to paint it. In Sean's words, «If you see it lost, you can paint it lost».
Vagueness is an asset that communicates naturalness, not imprecision, challenging our internal
logic about how things should be, rather than humbly accepting how they actually look.

74
 Nature
« doesn’t lie. »
We do.

75
 Summary:

Don't paint things

Basic principles:
† The variety provokes an open emotional response.
† The description imposes a closed rational reading.
† Your work should have an emotional intention.

How not to paint things:

† The brushstroke does not describe the shape but is its metaphor.
† Do not paint the shape; paint the light that reveals the shape.

Create an illusion:
† Do not paint things, but the feeling that things cause.
† Add more variety, not more information.
† The focal point conditions the reading of its context.

Make it work:
† Trust the criteria of your eye, not that of your brain: if it looks bad, it’s wrong.
† Paint things as they are, not as they should be.

76
77
 Everything you will need

Pencils and eraser.

† Sean uses General's black and white charcoal pencils, both 2B, and a kneaded eraser.

Paper.
† Neutral gray or tobacco-colored mi-teintes paper. Sean recommends using the soft side of
the paper.
† Fine-grain white watercolor paper. Nothing special.

Other materials.
† A blade for uncovering the lead and sandpaper for sharpening the point.
† You will also need brushes, white gesso, black gesso, and some paper towel on hand.

78
There are no lines, only shapes, and sensations.
What differentiates a drawing from a photograph? To create a character you prefer an
illustration rather than a photograph because you feel the drawing as you feel the character.
Visual language, because emotion is involved in formal construction, carries a human footprint
that the mechanical image does not have.
The drawing simultaneously transmits what you know and what you see, using emotion
as a score. Through a good drawing you do not limit yourself to describing things, but also
transmit feelings. It’s emotionally drawn. The decisions you make are for emotional reasons:
rhythms before proportions, weights before anatomy. That is principles before rules.
When Sean draws, he doesn't just explain the shape; he performs a movement with the arm and
the hand, as if it surrounded the shape in three dimensions, feeling it. When drawing, he acts
like he’s in real contact with the object, which causes that illusion to be transmitted plastically
through the intention of the stroke. If when drawing you feel that you are surrounding the
shape, that is exactly what you transmit in your drawing: the sensation of touch and volume.
It's that simple: if you want to convey a feeling, you must feel it first. You have to feel and
understand at the same level and, only then, can you interpret the way to communicate it full
of intention and feeling.
Do you want to draw something hard? Draw it hardly. Do you want to express softness on a
face? Draw it smoothly. You must participate in the experience in order to be able to transmit
it. You simply cannot transmit something separated from the way you transmit it.

Sean recommends holding the

pencil like this so you can squeeze
out all its possibilities: sideways
and perpendicular, taking
advantage of it when it's blunt
and when it's sharp.

79
 1-minute sketches

Do you remember when I said that you need limitations and pressure in order to really learn?
This is the first exercise Sean proposes, consisting of one minute, two minutes, five minutes,
and twenty minute rounds of short poses. The exercise is very intense, with hardly any breaks
and throughout the whole day.
«This exercise sounds scary because it's scary», Sean jokes. But there is something very certain
in that: if you do not fear an exercise, it’s not an exercise. There is no other way to learn, and
Sean wants you to learn whether you like it or not. Especially if you don't like it.
This exercise is not constructive but focuses on capturing the fundamental, as is done in
cartoons. Only line and value based on the most characteristic features, and nothing else.
Because in order to draw something convincing in a minute, you cannot expect a usual formal
construction, you have to go for the concrete character, for the specific. You should not think
about the result, but about the process, reaching the essential:
† What’s in the light and what is in the shadow? Where is the dominant stuff, in the light or
in the shadow?
† What’s most important?
† What’s the most characteristic?

80
5-minute sketches

This exercise is designed to learn how to organize values in a

simple and intuitive way. To do this, you will use a charcoal
pencil and a white chalk pencil on colored paper.
This is the value structure proposed by Sean:
† Two light values (average light and maximum light).
† The tone of the paper acts as a medium tone.
† Two shadow values (medium and black shadow).
For this to work you must understand that families of light
and shadow must always remain separate, such as Capulets
and Montagues. That’s why we physically isolate them from
each other by setting the tone of the paper in the middle, which
remains neutral in this war.
So don't put white in the shadows or black in the lights,
capicci?
In order to facilitate the work of synthesis, Sean recommends
thinking in terms of stencils. That is, in a pure separation,
clipped and without gradations, between light and shadow.

82
Putting your skin in the game.
The difference between studying painting and learning by making mistakes with paint-stained
hands is the same as between a war video game and a real battle.
Deep learning of something occurs when we get involved and develop a certain instinct to
discover how things are applied incorrectly. Sean is very clear about this: «You learn more by
making mistakes».
To advance at a good pace you must make decisions that will be very expensive if you fail
because for learning it’s mandatory to put your skin in the game. No sane painter makes banal
decisions about his/her work when there is no undo button, and the risk of destroying his/her
work if it fails. This forces him/her to think more competently.

Limitation as a creative engine.

Parkinson’s Law³ consists of three sentences:
1. The work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
2. Expenditures rise to meet income.
3. The time spent on any topic is inversely proportional to its importance.
As we will see, these principles can also be applied to artists and art schools, where every exercise
expands to fill the available time.
When we have all the time in the world to make a decision, we relax and spend eternity
pondering, because there is nothing to lose. The security of having time available is a
powerful narcotic for our resolving instinct, and we end up confusing visuals with
intellectual thinking.
The most bitter part of all this is that the decisions are dispersed, but do not improve, wasting
valuable time —and very expensive— in an exercise that does not give us a greater benefit than
a well-planned short exercise.
Sean says that much more can be learned, and in much less time, by proposing exercises
designed to force reactive decision-making. The reduction of resources, the suppression of
comfort, and the limitation of time are key to accelerate learning exponentially. Briefly: you
don't need more time, but more risk and more pressure.

3. The Parkinson's Law, enunciated by the British Cyril

Northcote Parkinson in 1957, formulates these three
laws based on daily experience, denouncing the
inefficiency of administrative work

Read more on Wikipedia.

83
 A tip

The light that defines

the nasal bridge
usually has the
characteristic shape of
an exclamation point.
 20-minute sketches

To measure, or not to measure, that is the question.

Sean does not block in, he prefers to measure with his naked eye so as not to limit the approach
from the beginning. «I take the measures from my imagination», he says, as his arm keeps
moving.
«…although I know that my intuition is wrong most of the time», he explains; so when in
doubt, he checks the measurements. Sean recommends taking measurements after using the
eye to avoid obstructing the pace. He prefers to rectify a mistake rather than limiting the
possibilities.
«The nose may not be that long, but it feels that long, and that's why it looks good even if it's
not right», he says during the demonstration. If you make a line that looks straight, you don't
need a plumb line that tells you it's straight; it is obvious that it is straight because it looks
straight. «Sometimes you need a curved line to make it look straight», he says. Checking a line
that looks straight with a plumb line is like trying to give birds flight lessons!

«Don’t trust your mind.»

You do not need to know the anatomy of the eye for drawing it, in fact, it’s even unfavorable
because the anxiety to show off your knowledge spoils the illusion. Remember that illusion is
a speculative phenomenon, not didactic. So it doesn’t matter how much you know about eyes
in general; you must draw that particular eye, that of your model.

85
Shadows.
† He starts at the forehead, intending to go down. He could do it the other way around
because there are no rules for starting a drawing.
† Sean explains that he learned from Howard Pyle and Harvey Dunn that the shapes of the
shadows define the drawing, so he goes for them from the beginning.
† At this stage, there is still no ambition for details, and he looks for the abstract shape of the
blocks of light and shadow. When he draws the shadow shapes, he fills them in immediately
to make them look like masses, because the contrast between positive and negative shapes
visually helps him link processes together and makes it easier for him to understand
relationships.
† Also, by working on line and value at the same time, he’s more efficient at detecting errors
prematurely. In a line drawing everything is less obvious than when it is shaded. When the
masses of light and shadow are visually confronted, it’s easier to judge their
relationships (positive shape compared to negative shape) than when we only work on the
line (positive shape compared to other positive shape).
† When he fills in the hair shapes, he puts the pencil sideways to make it smoother, less
linear. He tries to differentiate the strokes of the face from those of the hair because
something so different cannot be drawn in the same way. The stroke should feel different.
† The larger shapes are also treated differently, with much broader strokes that dramatize
their heaviness and relevance beyond the shape of their outline.

86
Lights.
† Because the light comes from above, he begins to light from the bottom up. His intention
is to increase the intensity of the white until reaching the highlight on the forehead.
† He keeps a reasonable distance between light and shadow. Otherwise, there would be no
point in using colored paper, the purpose of the color paper is to act as a halftone.
† He starts smearing the large mid-tone masses of white, but he doesn’t go for the highlights
yet.
† Now he starts to place the higher lights at the closest planes, at the nose bridge, and at the
central forehead area. This accentuates the roundness of the face and the feeling of depth.
† The time comes when, in order to move forward, he takes a step back. Once the large
masses of light and shadow are drawn, he drags a piece of paper towel over it and sweeps
everything away, blending the overall tone. With this, he achieves unity, coherence, and
atmosphere, by consolidating the chalk and carbon particles, which are fixed into the paper
fibers.
† This overall smoothing lowers the intensity of darks, as well as lowering the brightness of
lights, and integrates the mid-tone of the paper into a smooth fade. Now it’s time to add
details and accents, sculpting the light and organizing values in the Sargent way. I’ll explain
this in detail later when talking about painting.
† Finally, he distributes accents and details asymmetrically in order to break the monotony,
creating a “dominant eye”. We will also talk about this later.

87
88
 15-minute value sketches

Process
The concept of this exercise is the same as that of the previous ones, but changing the medium.
Here you will use white gesso and black gesso, on a white watercolor paper. In this way:
† Use black gesso and water to create a general wash, a medium gray.
† Then, when dry, draw a few simple lines with a charcoal pencil.
† Paint the dark areas with black gesso and the gray areas thinning it with water.
† Paint the lights with white gesso, and the middle lights thinning it with water.
The mid-tone of the wash works the same as the medium tone of the paper in the previous
drawings. It serves to create clean transitions between black and white, keeping them physically
and conceptually separated.
You must group lights and shadows in a structured way: they are separate ideas and must be
kept separate. Do it also on your palette: black and white, each with its own space.
Sean got used to using gesso, not acrylic, at school to save students money. You can use black
and white acrylics if you prefer, it's almost the same. It’s highly recommended that you exercise
from life, but you can also work from photographs. Or better yet, from stills of movies that
have good photography work.

89
Create your visual narrative.
This exercise serves to learn to interpret and reorganize the values that we see in the model,
based on personal criteria, with the purpose of creating a visual narrative. Bit by bit:
† The visual narrative is the way you adapt what you see, at your discretion.
† Your criteria is how you are going to tell things. It refers to the HOW, not the what.
For example, in his demos, Sean exaggerates drama to enhance the excitement of his visual story.
As you will see in the following pages, he does not seek fidelity or details, but rather the
relationships between values, the very essence of the composition.
Sean prefers to work on the most obvious, safest things at the beginning and try the most
daring at the end. He says it's better that way because you can move slowly, without wasting
time on big corrections. The correction sequence must be efficient so that you do not have to
retrace large sections, only small steps.
The teacher says that you should understand this exercise as storytelling of value. How does
that feel? Sean wants you to design your composition based on what you observe and interpret
from the model, with an emotional intention. Your painting, your decisions, your values.
The important thing is not that you get the exact values right, but that you transform
them creatively: combine, group, contrast, compress, attenuate and enhance the values in your
favor, in order to enrich what you see with your personal story.
By the way... don't forget about the cast shadow! The cast shadow talks about how and where
the form ends and, in a studio set, it’s the only testimony you have to create a spatial narrative
of the subject in relation to its environment.

90
92
93
 Summary:

Drawing

Drawing:
† Your drawing must have an emotional intention, not descriptive.
† In order to transmit a sensation, you must experience it first.
† You cannot transmit something separated from the way you transmit it.

Value:
† The shadow defines the drawing.
† The light and shadow families are physically and conceptually separated.
† Approach visually the masses of light and shadow in order to judge their relationships.

Storytelling:
† The visual narrative is the way you adapt what you see, at your discretion.
† Your criteria is HOW you are going to tell things.
† Creatively rearrange the values you see in order to build your visual story.

94
95
 Variety and contrast

B
efore starting to talk about principles, I want to clarify that Sean does not admit that
there are rules in art: «there are no real rules. It's just art», he says. Sean admits that
there are only a couple of principles, but that they are not rules themselves.
A rule is a resource, a recommendation about something that works and that
can serve as a starting point when you don't know what to do. A net that saves you from
falling, such as anatomy, focal point, perspective, temperature changes, etc. There are a lot of
rules that you should know in order to have resources. In general, they are fine if you
understand the principle that rules them, and they are an oracle to consult when you are lost.
However, Sean only admits two principles: variety, and its youngest daughter, contrast. They
are complex ideas that cannot be reduced to formulas and require greater participation of
intuition.

† Variety.
Variety, whatever the kind, is what expresses life.
But variety does not express life by itself. For magic to occur there must be a certain unity in
variety, a sense of order that we can call harmony. Accuracy is a secondary asset compared to
harmony.

† Contrast.
Contrast, whatever the kind, is what makes you feel.
Contrast is nothing other than the dramatization of variety, a way of presenting variety that
sparks our hearts. The less contrast there is, the more tasteless everything looks. But if we
go too far, we run the risk of being too ordinary, and it’s not about increasing contrast just
because.

96
 How to look

Looking without seeing.

Sean paints “without painting things”, and also looks “without seeing things”. The idea is
similar to feeling the rhythm without using a metronome. It’s not reliable to judge values
looking at isolated areas because the eye balances luminosity, turning everything into a
medium gray that confuses us. This is because, when you fix your eyes on a point, it
automatically darkens whatever is too light and lightens whatever is very dark.
Sean does not focus his eyes on any specific place so as not to lose the comparative notion with
the other parts. He uses a trick that consists of two steps:
1. He walks his eye up and down several times, like a fast scanner. He just wants to know
what’s the most different thing compared to the whole. How fast do you have to scan?
Enough so that the eye does not adapt.
2. Then look closely at what makes it different, and think why.
He also does the same quick “walk” to detect if something is wrong in the value relationships
between the model and his painting. If the impression is the same, it means that things are
going well.
Don't look in the model for what you know, neither with the intention of using the model as
an excuse to show off. Just get the mid-tone of the light and the mid-tone of the shadow.
The rest is about adjusting this fundamental relationship. That relationship should be
perfectly readable on your palette; if it is not clearly seen there, something is wrong.
When you make decisions about what you observe, you are not really faithful to reality, but to
your criteria about reality. You can train yourself to better see the grays or the warm tones, or
whatever you please. The vision is always personal, you can design an illusion that conveys the
same thing that reality conveys and perhaps add a touch of extra drama that humanizes it. The
personal design of the illusion underlines what is observed in reality.

Take advantage of myopia.

The trick doesn't work if you have a decent eyesight, but if you're nearsighted, you can take
advantage of your myopia as an instant abstraction tool.
Sean resorts to looking at the model above the glasses in order to simplify the shapes. When you
squint you discriminate a lot of information, but there is a drawback: you also alter it. A
nearsighted person can see colors and values as they are, without getting lost into details.

97
 How to detect the error

There are only three possible errors.

Fortunately, an error is something that does not look good in our painting, so it should be easily
detectable with the naked eye. In fact, it would not make much sense to correct errors that
cannot be detected by eye, since a painting must be painted to be seen, not to be measured.
And any error that appears or is intuited in our painting is necessarily located in one or more
of these things, and in this order of importance:

1. Drawing: the right shape in the right place.

2. Value: the correct degree of light.
3. Temperature: warm or cool.

So when something doesn't look right, ask yourself these questions:

1. Is it correct in size, shape, and position?
2. Is it too light or too dark?
3. Is it too cool or warm?

Whenever there is a problem, think about three things; drawing, value, temperature. In each
brushstroke, decisions are made based on three things and in this order. In fact, it’s most likely
a drawing or value error, rather than a problem with temperatures.
Drawing is the most basic thing and if the drawing is wrong, everything is wrong. Value is the
most important thing to transmit life and the color is the most important thing to transmit
emotion to the image.
Although Sean does not seem to give capital importance to the temperature when he affirms
that «my process focuses on solving the drawing first, then the values, and then the
temperature. In that order. If the drawing and the values are correct, the paint will work well
in any color».

98
 Organization of values

Look at the great masters.

Sean says he learned from Sargent, Rembrandt, and Van Dyck how to organize values so that
they are grouped into three large blocks.
It is a very simple approach: the light on the chin is the mid-tone of the middle area and the
light on the middle area is the mid-tone of the forehead, where there’s also the highest light.
† The lights on the chin are the mid-tones of the middle area of the face.
† The lights on the middle area are the mid-tones of the forehead.
† The highest lights are only on the forehead and the forehead average value is the lights on
the middle area.
It makes sense, right?
Sean constantly makes value and temperature adjustments and always within the large families
of value and temperature arranged on the palette, so as not to lose the feeling of unity. When
the palette is well organized, it’s not difficult to deduce how and where to mix the colors to
organize the values of our portrait.

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 Organization of temperatures

The three-color dominants

These are the three great blocks of

dominant temperatures of the
head:
1. Yellow on the forehead.
2. Red on the cheeks, eyes, ears
and nose.
3. Blue, green, or gray on the
chin.

Tips for working temperatures.

† The three dominants serve as an orientation to add variety, but they are not a rule. These
are very subtle changes and sometimes you will not see them in the model. It’s your personal
decision to dramatize the three temperature changes or ignore them.
† In each strip, is a secondary variation of minor temperature changes —warm, cool, warm,
cool... They are not, strictly speaking, "cool" or "warm" colors in absolute terms, but cooler
or warmer colors in relation to its immediate surroundings: for example, a red admits
variations of cooler red, without red being a properly cool color. We will see an example of
this later in a work by Rubens.
† Be careful not to go overly blue when you set the highlights. Remember that you can also
use purple, which is a cool color and continues to be reddish, which will allow you more
versatility to nuance it, as we will see later.
† The skin is always within the range of oranges, and it’s recommended that temperature
changes respect this background harmony.
† In women, it is not advisable to abuse the cool temperature on the chin, since it may seem
like a trace of a beard.

101
Rubens temperature changes

In this detail of a work by

Rubens, you can see how changes
in temperature occur without
resorting to properly cool or warm
colors:

† Color temperatures are

relative to their immediate
surroundings, so orange looks
cooler in the light and warmer
in the shadow.

† Gray is more bluish due to

its proximity to orange.

103
The variation on Velázquez

104
 Organization of the brushstroke

A change of plane involves a change of value, in addition to a change of direction and treatment
of the brushstroke. Assuming that any portrait can be synthesized into spheres and cylinders,
ask yourself; is it part of a sphere, a cylinder, or an intersection? The answer will determine the
direction and intention of your brush stroke.

The brushstroke «along the form».

Traditionally it’s recommended to model the shape with “enveloping” brushstrokes, through
the shape, such as surrounding it. However, Sean tends to direct the course of his brushstrokes
along the shape, reinforcing its long axis. He learned this resource from his mentor, Michael
Hussar, who in turn observed it in Sargent's work, as we will see in the following pages.
Sargent's brushstroke is long, full of paint, calligraphic, and usually occupies the halftone
located between the light and shadow areas. He also uses it to define the closest things using the
background color.
This is a resource that works well when working in combination with crisscross, electric and
zigzagging brush strokes. They are specially indicated to fill and consolidate the flattest
surfaces, such as the forehead and cheeks. Combining both treatments, solidity, contrast and
variety are achieved, which are the key to expressing life.

105
 Sargent's brushstroke

Notice the behavior of the

rhythms and directions in
Sargent's brushstroke, flowing
along the shape in contrast to the
zig-zag brushstroke:

† Long and enveloping

brushstroke in the mid-tones.
It is sinuous and suggestive.

† Short, crisscrossed
brushstroke on the forehead
and cheeks. It is more
repetitive and electric.
 Sargent's brushstroke

In this example, the phenomenon

of contrast and variety between
brush strokes is observed much
more clearly:

† Long brush strokes define

and contain the shape in a
matrix of uninterrupted
calligraphic rhythms.

† While the zigzagging

brushstroke, short and broken,
reaffirms the intersection of
the planes inside.
Variety in the brushstroke.
Each brushstroke communicates something, and its meaning and conceptual scope is the key to
reading your painting. As with writing, we always communicate something to the viewer
through the variety and calligraphy of our brush. The important thing is to transmit life
consciously, instead of communicating insecurity and confusion unconsciously.
These are some examples of unconscious communication with the brush that you should avoid:
† Every time you put static information you transmit statism; that is, the opposite of
movement, which is the metaphor of life.
† Every time you put the same information without variation, your visual language
communicates that what you’re painting is flat, inert, and dull.
† If you only worry about being beautiful, you convey that your artistic purpose is frivolous
and superficial, and your portrait will look hollow and stiff, like a mask.
† If your color falls short in temperature variation, you convey that you fear to communicate
strong emotions and that you prefer to take shelter in the comfort of apathy.
† If there is not much difference between your strokes, you communicate that there are
monotony and poverty of ideas in the universe of your painting.
† If your line is hesitant, you communicate confusion and not being sure of what you are
saying.
† If you insist on overworking the same area over and over again with the same brushstroke,
you communicate graphic laconism; that is, something akin to the verbiage of an
undocumented politician.

Velázquez's Christ is one of those

formidable paintings where not
even two brush strokes are alike,
but neither does he fall into the
exaggeration of variety.
Everything is at the service of
naturalism.

The variation of the brushstroke

is delicate but effective. The
temperature changes are subtle
but powerful. The variety in the
consistency of the painting is of a
symphonic complexity...

Flesh feels like real flesh but when

we get closer we see that it’s an
illusion.

109
 Coll's line

In this illustration by Joseph

Clement Coll, we see how the
calligraphic variety, the diversity
of the caliber, flow, speed and
direction of the stroke, without
the need for color, have enough
strength to create an illusion.

Engravers and graphic artists are

an invaluable source of inspiration
for painters. You can learn almost
everything about brush handling
from them.
 Everything you will need

Easel.
Sean always paints using his inseparable pochade box made by Ben Haggett, because it’s much
more manageable than a French easel. He likes its built-in wooden palette because he travels a
lot and doesn't want to carry glass.
Inside his travel pack, he carries a document, always visible, which tames those customs agents
who are fearful of oil colors. It’s worn due to so many trips, but he says it still works well for
him. We designed a document with the necessary warnings for customs agents, which you can
download for free here. We recommend it to avoid any annoyance.

Tripod.
He uses a lightweight folding tripod. Specifically, the A1350 MeFoto Travel Tripod model.

111
Brushes.
He rejects exotic hair and prefers inexpensive nylon brushes. He
uses Trekell's, and he even has his own set. «They are totally
black, so they match my clothes», he jokes.
For small brushes, he prefers round ones with a short handle,
because he can create new registers by modeling the tip.
For large brushes, he prefers filberts. They allow him a great
variety of calligraphic strokes with a twist of the wrist; you use
it flat, edged, and scrubbed.
He never uses flat brushes, they don't work well for him.
He recommends soft brushes for painting on panel and bristle
brushes for painting on canvas. The bristles, on a panel, drag the
paint to such a point that he uses them as erasers.

Painting knives.
Sean does not use painting knives for painting. He likes the
flexible wedge-shaped knives, which he uses to clean the palette
and to make mixtures, avoiding damaging the brushes.
The Damascus knife was forged by himself using a cutout he
had leftover when making a chef's knife. He says he never uses
it, but he always carries it with him because Damascus knives
with coffin-shaped handles are cool.

Support.
He uses Ampersand Gessobord panels, usually 9x12 ”.
He never uses canvas because the texture bothers him. The rigid
and flat support allows him to better control the texture in all its
range of transparency and softness, something that the fabric’s
own texture conditions too much.

Other materials.
† He uses Gamsol as a solvent.
† He always has paper towels on hand.

112
 Cadmium Green Pale serves to cool down mixtures and to
neutralize a red that gets out of control. You can also use it
as a cool yellow.

It’s the most expensive and toxic color on the palette, and
one of those you will use little. You don't need a lot on the
palette, but you need to have it on hand.

W&N Burnt Sienna is very transparent and orange. It’s

not real Burnt Sienna, but a transparent iron oxide. In fact,
you could replace it with transparent iron oxide.

It’s a very important color on the palette since it serves as

the basis for skin colors. Really get a good amount of it.

This red, called Scarlet Lake, is made with Naphthol, a

pigment that is used to avoid Cadmium Red, which is very
expensive and toxic.

It is used to adjust the temperature of the mixtures in the

skin tones, especially in combination with yellow ocher and
white.

Yellow Ocher is one of the most versatile colors on the

palette. Although it’s opaque, you will use it in both light
and shadow mixtures.

On the other hand, it’s a key color for the basic palette of
every painter, and essential for doing the limited palette
exercise that Sean proposes.

The Indian Yellow is totally transparent and with an

orange dominant. You won’t use it much, but it’s very
versatile because it stains the white without making it
chalky.

Mixed with white you get a tint that can compete with
Lemon Yellow or Light Cadmium Yellow. It also helps you
adjust shadows.

Titanium White is a cool, opaque, non-toxic color. Sean

prefers Gamblin's Radiant White because it’s made with
safflower oil, so it yellows less over time.

Of course, prepare a generous amount of it in the center of

your palette.

113
 Manganese Blue has a shade similar to Cerulean but it’s
transparent. It's a must-have on Sean's palette, and you can
prepare a fair amount.

The one by W&N is not a real Manganese Blue, and it’s

obtained with Phthalocyanine Blue. Substitute colors
achieved by mixing, are called hue.

Cobalt Blue is a semi-opaque color with medium toxicity.

It has a reddish dominant and you will use it a lot in
combination with the Burnt Sienna to paint the shadows.
Prepare a good amount.

Like Indian Yellow, Dioxazine Purple is a color that you

won’t use much, but it comes in handy when you need a
powerful purple.

Sean generally uses it to tint the highlights, as it can turn

blue or red, creating a prismatic effect. Put just a little on
the palette, but make sure it’s there.

There are many kinds of Alizarin, and Sean recommends

Old Holland's Alizarin Crimson Lake Extra because of its
tone and permanence (quinacridone).

It’s red with high dyeing power, transparent and deep,

which feels like blood. You will use it to indicate blood
flowing underneath the skin and, in greater quantity, to
make chromatic black and make temperature adjustments.

Olive Green is a shade obtained by mixing transparent

pigments. Gamblin's is too light and Old Holland's is too
opaque. The one by W&N is perfect, and the one by
Rembrandt works similarly.

You are going to use it in great quantity, almost exclusively

as a base to make chromatic black.

Ultramarine Blue is the most versatile blue and cannot be

missing from any palette. Here you will mainly use it to
make chromatic black and adjust shadows.

114
115
 Palette

Y
ou must have noticed that the colors transform as soon as they touch your painting.
This phenomenon is because you judge the colors compared to the background. You
must distrust the feelings that your painting transmits and entrust yourself to your
palette, because when you see that soulless color on your work you venture to rectify
it and... well, you already know the end of the story. Everything is ruined in a blink.
In Sean's words, «remixing things is a real bummer», but it's always better not to have to
constantly rectify the colors we put on our work, spoiling everything. Of course, we all would
like to nail it at the first attempt, alla prima. But is that possible? Can it be learned or is it pure
virtuosity?
Good and bad news: yes, you can learn and yes, it will take a lot of work.
It’s not something you didn't know before you started reading. If you are willing to work hard,
here you will find everything you need to know, and where to start. And for free.

Michael Hussar's palette has an organization very similar to

Sean's. Here he replaces the Cadmium Green Pale with
what seems to be a Magenta.

The image comes from a demonstration at the London

Tattoo Convention in 2012. See the video on Youtube.

116
Mud Palette.
Sean Cheetham's palette, nicknamed Mud Palette, is a variation of Michael Hussar’s palette.
Michael was his mentor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. The
palette has great versatility and is designed to paint almost anything with it.
Many artists use limited palettes because limitations benefit harmony control. In fact, Sean
teaches his students to work with Zorn's limited palette¹ first before introducing the full
palette. So limited palettes are fine for learning, and Sean doesn't stick with them, he
prefers the power of a well-equipped palette for his personal work.
Winsor & Newton is the most consistent brand for its color chart. Sean confesses not to be a
fan of the brand but acknowledges that they produce formidable colors with ideal consistency.
Those are the ones he uses since school days and he feels comfortable with them.
The palette that I will explain is designed for studio lighting. Its organization is very flexible
since it is based on adjustments of halftone mixes. If, for example, you were in a moonlight
situation, all your mid-tones would have a cool dominant.

«Trust your palette».

The palette not the painting, is the place where you have to understand colors, make decisions
without the distractions of drawing and the characteristic aspects of your work. You wouldn’t
even think of drawing on your palette, so you shouldn't mix colors on your painting, either.
For Sean, who spends most of his time checking values on the palette, applying the color to
the support is a conclusion, not a trial and error. The palette is actually your painting, and
the support is where you put it in its place. Stick with this idea: «If it looks good on your
palette it will be good on your painting».
Sean has a habit inherited from Michael Hussar: he places a brushstroke and takes his time to
look at it closely. If it fits in its place, he goes on. If it doesn't fit, he keeps looking for the right
color on the palette. This simple habit is the key to avoid carrying mistakes.
Execution is the least important thing in the entire process. When the mix reaches the panel,
it’s executed with the speed and security of someone who is confident, who knows what he’s
doing because he has tried it on the palette before and already knows that it will work.
Organization.

1. Anders Zorn was a Swedish painter of the late 19th

century. In this detail from a self-portrait of his, you can
see his famous palette of four colors: Yellow Ocher,
Vermillion Red, Ivory Black, and Lead White. And with
that, he managed perfectly for almost everything.

117
The key to this process is the division into three phases: drawing, shadows, and lights, where
each section gradually adds value until it reaches its completion without surprises, alla prima.
The structure of the palette is 100% rational and is based on the interaction of two basic ideas:
† The physical and conceptual division between light and shadow.
† Light and shadow mid-tones adjusting.
The palette is a structured system of light and shadow mid-tone adjustments, distinguished in
two large blocks:
† In the left half, there are light and opaque colors.
† In the right half, there are dark and transparent colors.
Two large families of values on the palette, perfectly differentiated, which are adjusted in both
value and chroma. Transparent pigments for shadows, opaque for lights. Thin, transparent and
dimmed shadows; thick lights with a variety of temperatures and high chroma.

Harmony.
All the palette work comes down to how similar the colors are while contemplating their
differences. So the palette is organized in the same way that families of color differ and interact.
In order to achieve precision and harmony, Sean underlines the importance of a solid drawing
and a system of pre-mixes based on halftones, «dirty» or «muddy» (as he calls them) colors
that match all mixes. In this way, the relationship between light and shadow is like a ying-yang;
separate but with a little bit of the opposite.
These mid-tone premixes work very well to achieve a perfectly harmonic approach. Pre-mixing
is understood as a kind of «primal clay» that, through successive adjustments, produces several
«stem mixtures». However, you must keep in mind that these premixes are not used for direct
painting, they are a means of obtaining secondary mixtures from them.
This eliminates the need to readjust the relationships between value and chroma when the
painting is already too advanced, preventing it from getting dirty. The dark key is set at the
beginning, and harmony is maintained as long as our palette is kept tidy.
By involving all the colors in a common premix it’s easier to achieve coherence, unity, and
harmony. This occurs especially in the transition areas between values with different color
temperatures which tend to get dirty easily.

118
Brushes.
Having the palette organized also involves organizing brushes. There is no point in isolating
mixes without white on the palette if you use a white contaminated brush.
To avoid this, Sean uses four brushes, which he keeps separate:
† A large brush for the background.
† A brush for the darkest shadows.
† A brush for the shadows.
† A brush for the lights.
You do not need a set of brushes with various shapes. Most of the time it’s not necessary to
change the brush, it is enough to model its shape. With a round brush, Sean's favorite, you
already have many options; if you crush it against the palette it will take the shape of a fan, and
if you twist it, it will sharpen. The shape of the brush is flexible and you can adjust it to your
needs without the hassle of having several different versions of the same brush.

119
 Tidy palette, tidy mind.

Mixes WITH white Meixes WITHOUT white

120
 Quick Guide

I. Chromatic black:
It’s obtained with Olive Green, Alizarin
Crimson and Ultramarine Blue. This
mixture is diluted with Gamsol and used
to tone the support. You will also use it
for drawing and for darkest darks.

II. Clothing and background:

You will prepare two pre-mixes with the
mid color of the clothes and the
background. They will serve as the basis
for harmonizing the palette.

III. Mid-shadows:
It’s made with Burnt Sienna and Cobalt
Blue. This mixture gets cooler or warmer,
creating variety. It’s darkened with
Chromatic Black and interacts with
premixes for the mid color of the
background and clothing.

IV. Mid-light — «band-aid» color:

It’s made with Burnt Sienna, Titanium
White, and Manganese Blue. It’s
darkened with a premix of Dark Light
and lightened with a premix of Titanium
White and Manganese Blue. Temperature
changes are mostly adjusted with Yellow
Ocher, Cadmium Green and Scarlet
Lake.

121
Mixes without white

Right Half

122
Pre-Mix Guide
Pre-Mix Guide
Mixes with white

Left Half

125
Pre-Mix Guide
 Demonstration

W
ell, now that you know his life, his philosophy, how he draws, and how he
organizes his palette, the time has come. We’ll show you how Sean manages to
paint an alla prima portrait in just 90 minutes. To keep things simple, in the
follow-up to this demo, three 6-minute breaks for the model were omitted.
Surely the quick guide to pre-mixes was a bit confusing for you, coming so suddenly and before
you start. It’s normal, I have only advanced these details in order to make you familiar with the
structure of the palette. We’ll immediately begin to see it step by step:
1. Chromatic black
2. Toning
3. Drawing
4. Background and clothing
5. Mid-shadow
6. Mid-light (band-aid color)
7. Dark light and transition
8. Highlights, prismatic light, and specular light
9. Tips for finishes

128
Chromatic black.
Sean's order of execution is dark to light, so the first step is to create a very dark premix, a
chromatic black. This premix is not for direct painting but is the core from where Sean gets
warm and cool versions of the darkest darks.
Unless you know what you are doing, it’s better to use a chromatic black before a usual black
pigment since it’s more versatile to produce temperature changes. In addition, being
transparent, it reinforces the illusion of volume in contrast to opaque lights. If it were the case
that you needed a very deep and intense black, it’s enough to paint thicker which also
contributes to adding variety and vibration to the brushstroke.
It’s better to mix this black with a knife and not with a brush, so as not to destroy its fibers. This
is a practice that Sean admits he never respects but says that, as a teacher, he cannot recommend
his flaws to students.
To make his chromatic black, Sean begins by mixing a lot of Olive Green with some Alizarin
Crimson, obtaining a dark mud of neutral temperature. This mix is then adjusted with a pinch
of Ultramarine Blue. If you incorporate the colors in this order it will be easier for you to
control the mixture than putting all the ingredients together. Sean's favorite shade and the one
he recommends for its greater versatility, is that of a dark Bistre like the one you see in the
photograph.
As we will see, Sean adjusts the temperature of this chromatic black constantly and from the
beginning. For example, he adds Alizarin Crimson when painting the eyes, nose, ears and mout,
adds Ultramarine Blue on the chin, and he adds Olive Green on the temples.
With this black you will get all kinds of grays, controlling the temperature adjustments by
adding Alizarin Crimson to warm it up or Ultramarine Blue to cool it down. Of course, value
control is obtained by adding white.

Chromatic black:

1. Toning

2. Drawing

3. Darkest darks

Composition:

† ± 20% Alizarin Crimson

† ± 70% Olive Green

† ± 10% Ultramarine Blue

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 Tip

It’s difficult to judge the

temperature of an opaque
chromatic black. In order to see it
better, moisten the brush with a
little Gamsol and spread the
In this image you can see the versatility of
mixture on the palette, scrubbing
it. chromatic black, allowing green, red, and blue
dominants with a simple adjustment. This variety
Transparency will clearly show
you the dominant temperature of
would be impossible to obtain with a Mars Black,
your chromatic black. or an Ivory Black since dirty and opaque grays
would be obtained.

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 #1 Darkest Darks
Chromatic Black

Neutral Brown

Chromatic Black
Neutral basis

Chromatic Black Chromatic Black Chromatic Black

+ Alizarin Crimson + Olive Green + Ultramarine Blue
Red Hue Green Hue Blue Hue

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Toning.
Before starting to paint, Sean scrubs a very thin layer of chromatic black with a warm dominant
dark Bistre color, diluted with Gamsol. He likes to put a lot of solvent in the beginning so that
it’s absorbed and the paint then settles better. After drawing, he stops diluting the paint.
If it’s too wet, the excess solvent can be removed with paper. You can also wait a bit for the
excess Gamsol to evaporate and the paint to settle.
First, he tests the tone on one side, if the temperature is correct, he proceeds to cover the entire
panel from the sides to the center. He does it this way because he doesn't want much paint in
the center –softening the brushstroke in the area where the face will be placed, creating a
vignette.
Already in this general mid-tone, Sean tries to break the monotony by introducing movement,
vibration in the brushstroke, differences in transparency, and variation in temperatures. He
makes constant mid-tone adjustments, creating temperature dominants based on proximity to
central areas of the face.
Sean says that if there is something to be wrong in this phase, it’s better to exceed lightness
rather than heaviness in the general mid-tone.

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Do not block in or take any measure.
Sean never makes a general block in for later fitting the head parts inside of it like playing Tetris.
The block-in, the container that is recommended in the academic field, is for Sean the
equivalent of a straitjacket.
In his drawing the movements are linked with each other, they flow from the beginning
without being conditioned by any constraint. Each new line is an opportunity to make a new
decision accordingly. A block-in would spoil all that potential, diluting the creative scope.
Nor does he measure with the brush, but with the eye, because when you physically measure
with the brush to obtain the proportions you run the risk of losing the whole gesture. To
maintain proportions compares the gaps between the shadow shapes. And if he fails, there’s
always time for measuring and correcting, but it’s his last resource.
So the general advice is to take measurements with your naked eye without physical
instruments, and use the hand gesture to work the general rhythms. Then you can apply
proportions to those gestures and it doesn't work the other way around; you can't add
gestures to something that was born from instrumental rigidity. Instead, you can correct a
gesture that has gotten out of hand.

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Drawing is painting.
If you draw first and then paint on top, you lose the drawing. You must keep in mind that your
painting must add decisions, not overlap them. The drawing is not a tracing that you are
going to cover when you start painting over it, but it is part of the painting itself and it must be
working all the time, not only as a poor “background”.

Think of stencil.
You must draw with the understanding that light and shadow are different ideas, and that
they do not mix even on the palette. Think in terms of blocks of light and shadow, without
any halftones and you'll understand how positive and negative spaces relate to each other.

Draw the shadows you see, not the things you know.
You should not paint things, but instead paint the light that reveals them, understanding
the light observing the shape of the shadows. Sean learned this principle from Harvey Dunn,
who said that shadows are thought in terms of drawing and lights in terms of color.
You don't need to know how to draw an eye by studying its anatomy. It's all simpler: an eye
is a pattern of abstract shapes and values, not an actual eye. When you think that you are
painting an eye, you are daunted by the responsibility of making a good eye. Keep the scaffold
in mind... but don't paint the scaffolding! The illusion of the eye is created the moment you
stop thinking of the eye as an entity and start using only visual language.

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Draw the characteristic things.
Sean does not seek resemblance through fidelity, but through an emphasis on the characteristic
things and enhancing the features that convey character without losing sight of naturalness. In
other words, he prefers to resort to caricature rather than proportion.
According to Tom Richmond, “...a caricature is a portrait at high volume”. The caricature
recognizes and amplifies everything that reaffirms a person's identity, underlining the features
that define the resemblance, describing the person's personality, attitude, and intangible essence.

Drawing, step by step.

1. Sean begins the drawing with the chromatic black premix, using a round, pointed brush,
slightly moistened with Gamsol.
2. The first indications are a rough starting point, then he’ll go back to them to adjust them.
Sometimes he makes a mark with the brush handle before setting the brush stroke.
3. He suggests the general shape of the head and continues with the superciliary arch. Then
he draws the shape of the shadows of the eye sockets but not the eyes. He continues drawing
the cast shadows below the nose and links to the chin. Finally, the mouth is the last thing.
4. He does not draw the parts of the face, but the dramatic effect of light on them. Sean
defines light negatively, that is, «drawing everything that is not in the light». He does not
establish relationships between the elements of the face but between the shapes of the
shadow, which he keeps with sharp edges, as if it was a stencil.

136
 5. Shape is not as important as its position, the dramatic effect of light and the expression of
the characteristic. To achieve this, he ‘underlines’ the particular asymmetry of the head.
6. As he applys paint, he constantly adjusts the temperature of the chromatic black. For
example, the areas with more blood supply have a red dominance; lashes, blue; the forehead,
yellow; temples, greenish, etc.
7. Shadows are darkened non-linearly; smaller shadows are darker because the reduced
spaces convey that the feeling of air and atmosphere is smaller.

You will correct later.

The important thing in this phase, above the correction, is to nail the gesture and the big light
and shadow design. Then the corrections will come because if you correct what is not
essential at first, you hinder yourself. Everything has a place and a moment and the secondary
corrections come after the general approach, which is the engine of the portrait.
That's why Sean will wait almost until the end to add variety to the edges, when he has clearer
in his mind what to attenuate and what not, if necessary. Nor does he place the darkest darks
but reserves that accent for later. Now only the general feeling of darkness works without going
into too much detail.
Neither does he close the contour of the head with edges to avoid being trapped in its
limitations. It does not matter if there are inaccuracies at the beginning, they will be fixed.
Sean says he just ignores them until their turn comes.

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Background.
Sean prepares a pre-mix with Burnt Sienna and Cobalt Blue, which he lightens with a little
white. He uses it to paint the background, defining the neck with the negative shape. This
premix will interact with the shadows in the next phase, favoring general harmony.
The bottom-right corner is reserved for pre-mixing the clothing's mid-tone which will also
interact with the background mid-tone and the shadow mid-tone. He usually does the pre-
mixes of the background and the clothes in this phase but it wasn't like that in this demo. Sean
will pre-mix the mid-tone of the clothes almost an hour later.
This system is a foundation on which Sean works, but it is not an iron rule system. He keeps it
flexible and open, making adjustments on the go.

As you can see in this diagram that Sean drew on the studio
whiteboard, the forecast for the pre-mix of the clothes mid-
tone was done at the same time as the pre-mix of the
background mid-tone. Nothing important. But keep that
in mind so you don't get mixed up.

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Pre-mix — cool light.
The sun produces cool shadows and warm lights, but the opposite is true inside a studio. Sean
is now preparing a pre-mix with Manganese Blue and White, which will determine the cool
color of the light. This premix is placed in the middle of the palette and serves to cool the
mid-tones, both light and shadow.
There is a rule of not putting white in the shadows but it is imprecise. The important thing is
to keep the contrast and variety alive rather than blindly following the rule. When you add
color to your shadows make sure they are reasonably transparent, or they will get dirty. So far
so good. But it is also correct to “chalk” the shadows a bit if we indicate a reflection since the
bounced light will underline the transparency of the shadow without reflections.

139
Mid-shadow.
It’s not easy to nail the mid shadow tone because your view adapts to the focus of attention,
seeing it clearer than it is in relation to the light. Squinting usually works well, as well as moving
the view outside the area that we want to judge, as we explained previously. It’s about seeing
color ‘sideways’ without seeing it directly, judging it in relation to light.
Briefly, the mid shadow is a mixture of brown mud that we will adjust with the chromatic
black, the cool light premix and the background premix. The mid shadow accepts variety in
temperature, but not variety in value; the whole family of shadows belongs to the same
value.

To prepare the mid shadow premix, Sean places a good

amount of Burnt Sienna into the chromatic black mixing
zone, so that it participates in it and guarantees harmony
with the dark mixes.

Then he cools the mixture down with Manganese Blue and

adds some Yellow Ocher, which balances and lightens it
without making it chalky. This mud does not have any
white since it’s the shadow immediately after the darkest
shadow.

The mid shadow is lightened with the premix of cool light,

indicating reflections in the shadow. And it’s warmed up
with Scarlet Lake to paint the areas with more blood
supply.

140
Unity in variety.
He introduces temperature changes, turning the mixing zone into a mosaic of smaller redder,
greener, bluish versions of the shadow.
The organization of the palette responds to a very simple but powerful idea, which allows
adding increasingly complex mixtures without compromising harmony. Simplicity in
organization is what guarantees consistency in all mixtures, whose fundamental pillars are:
1. Unity
2. Variety

A few rules that you should follow.

There are no rules, only options... right? Well, just somehow. There are a few rules you should
follow when working in the shadows and they are pure common sense:
† The form shadows show intermediate values and have smooth edges.
† Cast shadows do not show intermediate values and have sharp edges.
† The lightest shadow cannot be lighter than the darkest light.
Only three rules, very easy to remember and perfectly reasonable. And yet many students fail at
this. Check your shadows!

This is how Sean has the palette

organized right now:

† Above: chromatic black

† Center: mid shadow tone

† Bottom: background mid-tone

He darkens the mid shadow with

chromatic black when occluded,
and harmonizes it with the
background using the pre-mix
below.

Plus, he gets reflected lights by

mixing the mid shadow tone with
the cool light premix on the left.

141
White in the shadows?
The universal advice given to students is never to put white inside the shadows. As a general
recommendation, that's fine, but Sean acknowledges that he hardly ever follows that rule. It
makes more sense to censor loss of contrast and variety rather than white itself.
You can follow this rule if it helps you to curb the urge to contaminate everything with white,
but it’s certainly one of those rules that you can skip if you know what you’re doing. Rules are
fine if you understand the principle behind them, and they’re like an oracle to turn to
when you are lost.
However, they are not a reliable guide because they can cause a lot of confusion by colliding
with other rules that recommend the exact opposite. It is also very disconcerting to
scrupulously follow a rule and then when visiting a museum, find that most great artists did
not respect it at all.
If you look at Rembrandt you will see that he keeps the lights opaque and the shadows
transparent. Sean says not to argue with a teacher like Rembrandt and to follow his example.
Don't go overboard with shadows and keep them thin, then you will have your chance to load
the brush well with the lights. That's all: there are enough variety and contrast.
The application of shadow colors determines the variety in the transparency of your painting.
If you paint everything with the same thickness the result will look flat and monotonous, even
if you don't use white in the shadows. It all depends on the way you do things.
Transparency in shadows is essential to create the illusion of volume in contrast to opaque
lights. But if we go too far, it can also look soft and inconsistent. Ideally, the shadow should
be thin enough to reveal the subtle vibration of the background.
When you add color to your shadow mixes you can use transparent —or reasonably
transparent— colors to avoid ruining them. If you want to put yellow in a shadow, use Indian
Yellow, not Yellow Ocher. If you want to put red, use Alizarin Crimson, not Scarlet Lake. If you
want to use green, use Olive Green, not Cadmium Green.
The lighter shadows usually have a little white —watch out, just a little— to ensure a smooth
and natural transition to the light area as well as to indicate reflected light. However: never put
white directly. That will not go well. White can only be used safely when associated with
another color. That’s what you have the cool light premix for, which introduces white into the
shadows in a controlled and harmonious way.
Therefore, we are going to reformulate this rule to make it sound much better:
† Subtle shadows and sculptural lights.

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Pre-mix — mid-light (band-aid color).
Start by placing a generous amount of Burnt Sienna on the left half of the palette, and mixing
it with Titanium White, getting an orange hue. Then, dull and cool this orange with the cool
light premix, made with Manganese Blue and white. The result of the light mid-tone is a color
very similar to that of the band-aids.
When the skin is very reddish use less blue; when it is paler use more cool light. When the skin
is darker use less white... Sean makes small adjustments of this type all the time because this
system is not an infallible recipe, nor does it pretend to be. It's a reliable foundation to start
working on and it needs tweaking on your side.

The temperature changes of the mid-light premix are

usually adjusted with Yellow Ocher and Scarlet Lake. With
those temperature adjustments we can get the entire
register of chroma nuances of the model's skin.

Scarlet Lake is a color with high dyeing power and when

it’s necessary to neutralize it, Sean uses Cadmium Green, as
we will see later.

143
Pre-mix — dark light.
Sean makes a pre-mix with Burnt Sienna and Cobalt Blue, which serves to create dark
versions of the light mid-tone and achieve a smooth transition between light and shadow.
In other words, prepare a mud to darken the band-aid color.
It’s a lighter pre-mix than the mud of the shadows and serves to find the tone that will act as a
partition between the families of lights and shadows. By participating in both in some way,
everything will harmonize well.
This mud closely resembles the mid shadow, with the difference that it’s somewhat lighter and
Cobalt Blue, which is opaque, is used instead of Manganese Blue, which is transparent.

By mixing Burnt Sienna and Cobalt Blue in equal parts you

get a grayish mud that you cool down by adding more
Cobalt Blue and warm up by adding more Burnt Sienna.
It’s used to adjust the value of the band-aid color and thus
achieve smooth transitions between shadow and light.
Previously, Sean made this mix too cool and needed to
make many adjustments on the go. Now he knows that this
mix is much better if it has a warm dominant, while still
respecting reasonable neutrality.

Later we will see how the temperature is adjusted with

Scarlet Lake, Yellow Ocher, and Cadmium Green.

145
Dark lights — transition.
Now that Sean has the shadows defined he needs a value that works as a hinge between light
and shadow, a bridge between both worlds. This strip of dark light that comes into physical
contact with the edges of the shadows indicates the transition produced by the illusion of
optical rotation.
This tone inhabits the limbo, between the lights and the shadows, and constitutes the
cornerstone of the entire dramatic effect. Sean acknowledges that this transition is the most
difficult one to see and the one that is most difficult for him because he tends to make it too
dark. He finds this intermediate value by mixing the band-aid color with the dark light
mud.

146
The transition is a dark version of the band-aid color, without becoming as dark as the lighter
version of the shadows. It’s mixed on the left half of the palette and is part of the lights, so it
needs white to work.
Although Sean tends to make it darker, it’s never dark enough to belong to shadows. If it were,
it would be in the initial shadow stencil from the beginning and would have been mixed on the
right half of the palette.
At this time you also decide what temperature the transition will be. But don't think that a
dramatic change from warm to cool is necessary, as so many books claim. Everything is always
much more subtle. You must understand the temperature change in relative terms, not
absolute. If your shade is orange, you don't need to put a clear blue transition; just put a cooler
orange.
Sean doesn't usually put too much blue in the dark light premix, because if he cools this mud
too much he can break the harmony. A warm dominant works because it contrasts sufficiently
with the temperature of the band-aid color since this mixture is cooler due to the large amount
of white and blue it contains.
When Sean doubts if there is enough contrast between the darkest light and the lightest
shadow, he just places a brushstroke on the side to judge if there is a value change big enough
to have the contrast he needs. And if it works, he goes for it.
In the transition, you must also think in terms of drawing, value, and temperature, so there
must be a variety of temperatures. For example, when getting closer to the eyes Sean adds
Scarlet Lake; and on the chin, Cadmium Green. These adjustments are constant.

147
 #4 Mid-light
«Band-aid color»

To lighten To darken

Manganese Blue Burnt Sienna

← Temperature adjustments →

Cobalt Blue

148
Mid-lights.
The mix of mid lights should be noticeably lighter compared to the mid shadow mud.
Not a bit lighter, but obviously lighter. The contrast should be obvious between the two halves
of the palette, with several values of distance between them. Sean now works in the overall mid-
tone in all its rich color. Then comes the lightest light and finally the highlights. In that order.
At this point, Sean's advice is not to rush but to take your time with the mid lights, because the
temptation to rush into the highlights is now too big. Don't look at the lightest lights yet.
Do not be seduced by those precious and shiny objects. Now you don't need them and they will
confuse you.
«A good cherry on top of a bad ice cream is not going to improve the ice cream. Not even a
good cheese will improve your pizza if the dough is lousy», says Sean. So stop looking at those
lights as soon as possible and focus on what's important. The time will come for putting the
cherry or the cheese.
Now it's about seeing the general color and which general temperature transitions are there,
mixing warm and cool versions of the band-aid color. Each version must have an obvious
color dominantce where the temperature can be seen with the naked eye, but without being
strident.
All these temperature adjustments are subordinate to a general dominance and should not step
away from it. Otherwise, the coherence in the chromatic variety is lost if there are discordant
notes that do not fit within the general tone. The coherence in the chromatic variety works as
a great matrix of harmonic notes. There must be unity in variety.

149
The next phase.
Once the mid-tone is resolved, Sean will start painting the lights. The sequence from dark to
light is respected until the end to keep control throughout the process.
As with the shadows, there is already a color area on the palette reserved for mixing colors with
white. It’s a high-value band-aid color and medium chroma, highly influenced by the
interaction with the cool light premix.
Before finishing the mid-light, Sean uses the shadow mixes on the palette for redrawing and
adjusting some areas, since it’s the shadows that define the light.

Beware of white.
«When you use white, use at least one other thing», Sean recommends. Surely you've seen
it before; when you put a lot of white the color becomes chalky, diluting its strength. So as a
general recommendation, when you add white, unless your intention is making everything cool
and chalky, always add color. Whichever, but add color. White must be accompanied by a
change in temperature or you will spoil everything.
Always keep in mind that white alters value and chroma. So be careful when you add white
because it’s not a neutral color: white is a cool color, and it will cool your mixes down.
Remember, just as there is an organization of mixtures on the palette, with the family of light
and shadow clearly differentiated and separated, you must do the same with the organization
of your brushes. A handful for the shadows and a handful for the lights.

150
 Unity in variety.

In the left half of the palette, we

can see how the great variety of
versions of the band-aid color
respects the identity of the general
tone.

You can also see how he uses the

simultaneous contrast between
Cadmium Green and Scarlet Lake
to create chromatic grays.

152
Clothes.
Sean usually does this pre-mix for the mid-tone of the clothes at the same time as the pre-mix
for the background mid-tone, but it wasn't like this in this demo. At first, he thought that he
would not paint the clothes and that the negative space in the background would be enough.
But in the end, he decided to paint it. That’s what comes from painting live.
For the clothes, he adds Yellow Ocher to the background pre-mix, which was a mixture of
Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue, and white. The background is a shade close to that of the shadow,
but more opaque and cold. By using the background as the base, everything harmonizes since
the background and the shadow contain Burnt Sienna and Blue (Manganese in the shadow,
which is transparent, and Cobalt in the background and clothing, which it is more opaque).

153
Highlights.
Now that the mid-lights are ready, Sean allows himself to start painting the lightest areas. The
most important advice he gives is to keep it simple by adding as few values as possible. In this
phase, the color richness is more important than the variety of values.
Highlights are obtained by mixing the band-aid color with white, Yellow Ocher, Scarlet Lake
and Cadmium Green. And the Yellow Ocher to adjust the final temperature.
Remember that this mixture is combined with the band-aid color, which in turn contains
Burnt Sienna, Manganese Blue, and white, so everything harmonizes.

154
There is a calculated intention that the final brushstrokes should have a vigorous impasto and
be executed with an unequivocal gesture and drag, without retouching. In Italian, this style of
energetic, loose execution is called bravura.
Sean says that highlights are the accents that finish off the painting, but that what's really
important happens in the middle. That's why he recommends economizing light accents,
preventing them from competing with each other, and distracting the eye.
In this phase he exaggerates the temperature changes, suggesting the vibration and the energy
of the light. Sean amplifies the presence of the primary colors —yellow, blue, and red— at the
highest point of light so that the colors are not chalky even though they contain a lot of white.
To do this, Sean usually introduces a little Dioxazine Purple into the mix, which he neutralizes
with a little Yellow Ocher or Indian Yellow. The virtue of this transparent violet is that it works
as a hinge between red and blue, unfolding into warm and cool colors with a simple adjustment.
To bring out the properties of the lights, shadows are intentionally more transparent, dirty and
sloppier than the lights. This reinforces the feeling that, in the higher lights, there is a greater
chromatic vibration caused by the decomposition of the light, creating the illusion of a
twinkle that contrasts with the dim tones of the shadows.
To reinforce the illusion that light reveals shape and provides it with structure and body, as you
add white to mixes you should increase impasto and color variety. With this you get more
qualities at stake in the transition between light and shadow, creating the illusion of structure
and vibration.

155
Prismatic light.
Carolus-Duran advised Sargent to, when painting the highlights, only go one step up and no
more. According to this approach, the sense of light wouldn’t come so much from adding more
white, but from adding more color vibration. In other words, the feeling of light is achieved
with a handful of light colors refreshing each other, creating the vivid illusion of a twinkle.
Exaggerating the chroma of the highlights is an inevitable habit for Sean, who says it will not
be seen as exaggerated because of the large amount of white that dims the chroma. To do this,
he adds Dioxazine Purple into the highlights, because it can be divided into reddish and bluish
versions.
Sean mixes two versions of the highlight: warm and cool, which are optically refreshed
creating a prismatic effect. He uses primary colors dominants, creating simultaneous
contrasts without altering the consistency of the overall value. This creates a chromatic
vibrato that reinforces the feeling of light without resorting to adding more white.
In the highlights, he likes to add a lot of chromatic variety, crossing brushstrokes made with
different versions of the general value, creating a fresh and iridescent effect in the lights, as
opposed to the dimmed shadows.

Variety in color and unity in value.

The light on the forehead is a plot of different temperatures that are seen as a single
plane because they are part of the same value. The color variation is contained within
the value. So you can put the color you want as long as you respect the value, as long
as you do not repeat the resource and fall into monotony.

157
Prismatic Light – examples

158
Specular light.
The specular light is always in the center of the shape, indicating the rotation axis. If you
put the highlight arbitrarily or for an aesthetic purpose, without knowing the logic of its
position in space, you will ruin all previous modeling work. So be careful with the highlights
and ask yourself, how are they going to help close the shape?
A highlight is a different touch, it has a different execution and nature than the underlying
constructive brushstroke. It’s reflected light and it must be seen and executed uniquely;
specular light floats above form.
This is the best way to indicate its specular nature; a small heap of thick paint, with perfectly
sharp corners. If you try to do the same thing with a brushstroke, it will look like one more
brushstroke, causing confusion.
When you’re going to make the final highlight, twist the brush on the palette and then push it
forward. That movement will load the tip with a small ball of paint, so that you can place the
highlight downloading the paint, not dragging it. This way of placing the painting suggests
that the nature of specular light is not like the others.
Sean is used to using purple in specular light instead of blue, as is usually recommended. Sean
noticed in Sargent's painting that even though the highlight contains red, it looks cool because
it contains a lot of white. We must not forget that temperatures are relative to the color around
them, and when choosing them we cannot think in absolute terms (red, blue), but in relative
terms (warmer, cooler).

159
 Tips for finishing

When to finish.
Not knowing when to leave things alone is a problem that haunts both students and veterans
alike. Sean believes that it depends on experience, although he admits that it’s one of those
things that one never ends up knowing how to handle. Sean jokes saying that you have to finish
«the sooner the better».
Jokes aside, he also said something that invites deep reflection: «looking for an end is a
distraction». There you have it.

Blending.
Sean does not like to blend too much, because the most beautiful thing about the painting is
that the painting is visible. Occasionally he lowers the sharpness of some edges in the lights,
gently sweeping them with a dry brush, one of those very worn and blunt ones. This establishes
a hierarchy between sharp and soft edges in relation to the focal point.
The blending responds to the need to achieve a smooth transition between two values, but
without losing the value jump. This type of blending creates a variety of edges that avoids falling
into monotony. The problem of blending comes from not having a purpose and looking for the
cheap effect of overworking it to make it look “prettier”. Transitions should be smooth, not soft.

162
Blending.

This is a good example to study how you blend: the area on work for the end so as not to lose the structure. The
the left is how he paints it, and the area on the right is how brightest areas are where Sean preserves the structure and
he finishes it. Between the two states, there is only about thickness of the paint and tends to blend more into the
a five-minute difference. shadows.

Sean likes to see the brushstroke, keep the shapes and tries He usually leaves the highlights as they were originally
not to blend too much. In any case, reserve the blending placed, without blending them, to ensure their vibration.

163
Tips for painting the eyes.
† The white of the eyes is rarely seen white. It’s usually very similar to that of the flesh
tone.
† The naturalness of the eyes requires a certain lack of definition, and the less they
monopolize the focal point the more authentic they seem. Over-defined eyes look like plastic,
unreal, dead. Soften them and put little detail in them to preserve their naturalness.
† Avoid fine lines in your portrait, especially in the eyes. Every fine line you put in calls
for special attention. This makes the rest of your painting look awkward and undefined
compared to the precision of a defined stroke.
† In a static pose the only thing that moves is the eyes, so that by blurring them we register
the passage of time. Some movement in the gaze, as well as in the mouth, gives the
portrait a liveliness and suggests movement in the painting. Also, the blur shifts the focal
point from the gaze towards the entire head, achieving an air impossible to achieve when you
define all the parts equally.
† Paint the eye bags. This seems very obvious but many students avoid them because they
don't want them to look like bags and make the portrait ugly.
† Don't put anything you don't see to make your portrait look more impressive. Usually
all students go too far in defining the eyes, creating a powerful focus of attention that annuls
the naturalness of the gaze. As a general advice, Sean says, «If you don't see it, don't paint it».
† According to the above you don't need to paint everything you know is there. A clear
example of this is the eyelids; you know that they form a curved fold although it may not look
like this in our model. However, the urge to show off everything you know is hard to
suppress. If you don't see it, don't paint it; if you see only a piece, paint only a piece.
† Don't put highlights in the eyes just because. «You really don't need that sparkle in the
eye», says Sean. You can put them in the end if you see them clearly; if not, forget it. And if
you’re going to put a highlight on the lower eyelid, take a good look at the temperature,
because it’s usually redder than you guess.
† This is a resource that you can see in all Sargent's portraits. To create variety you can
accentuate its characteristic asymmetry, where there is always a dominant eye. One
dominant eye carries more visual information than the other; for example more
structure, more light, more chroma, more complexity, more tension, more contrast, etc.
Briefly, he paints one eye with more visual weight than the other. If the face is not very
asymmetrical, dominance must be subtle to preserve naturalness.

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 Amanda Fuller
Andre Rodrigues
Anna Navarro
Ayoe Lise Lysgaard Pløger
Azin Moali
Benjamin Motola
Bobby Haynes
Charlie Pickard
Cory Koch
Dan Johnson
Diana Blüthgen
Felicity McCartan
Fernando Mairata
Fernando Vicente
Kate Zambrano
L. O.
Loren Tripp
Maksim Stepanov
Michael Fry
Miguel Coll
Nina Laine
Pedro Villota
Pere Navarro
Priscilla Yang
Robin McCartan
Socorro Moysi
Stuart Godfrey
Suzy Davis
T. J.
Val Riavoba
Xavier Dènia

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 Annette Nordentoft
Christine Urqhart
Ben Motola
Bente Andersen
David del Hierro
Egle Ortiz
Gaelle Hersent
Jacinta O'Brien
Jessica Grenouilleau
Jim Doe
Jody Waterson
Johan Grenier
Margaret de Vaux
Olivier Ladeuix
Pierre Bertin
Rubén Sanz
Seb Rodríguez

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Jorge Fernández Alday

Accounting and legal management,
logistics, and PR
[email protected]

Carles Gomila
Content creation, design, and
marketing
[email protected]

Menorca Rara Avis Workshops S.L.

NIF – B05371687
Carrer de la Lluna 6
07760, Ciutadella de Menorca
www.menorcapulsar.com
[email protected]

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CREDITS

PICTURES
Sean Cheetham
Itziar Lecea
Carles Gomila
Xavier Dènia

TEXT, DESIGN, AND LAYOUT

Carles Gomila

SPANISH PROOFREADING
Itziar Lecea

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Jorge Fernández Alday

ENGLISH PROOFREADING
Benjamin Motola (thank you Ben!)

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