Step 1

The initial sketch, again taken from a still frame of a DVD. This took no more than ten minutes, and serves only as a guide to the overall shape and placement of the features.

Step 2

The sketch is transferred to the canvas board, still using a pencil. At this stage you can spray the picture with a fixative to prevent the pencil dirtying your paint, but I use a hard pencil and don't usually have a problem. The basic colour is applied in big sections, with minimal blending at this stage.

Step 3

Most of the figure is covered in colour now. Compare to step 1 and you can see the initial flesh tone I used was too orange, so I toned it down with more white, and traces of red and yellow. The whole thing looks pretty sketchy, but the general tone is determined and the painting is ready to become more lifelike.

Step 4

The main part of this step is adding detail to the eyes, to bring the painting to life. More detail can be added later, but the definition of the eyes really helps to give a likeness to your painting.

Step 5

In this stage, extreme highlights and shadows are applied, giving the face a shiny look, which will be dealt with in the next step.

Step 6

The shiny-looking highlights are brought down by means of a light brushing of the entire face, with just a little of the basic flesh tone on a dry brush. This has the effect of blending the highlights and dark areas nicely. Sometimes the highlights are lost, in which case they can be reapplied, but less stated than in the previous stage. You should end up with a nicely blended, round-looking face.

I decided on a dark background, with a small area of light to make the face stand out.

Step 7

Finishing touches. The moustache is defined by working in random strokes of flesh tone, with various degrees of gray, black and brown. The bottom lip is worked on, giving it a rounded look, using the highlight and shadow. The eyes are finished off, adding highlights for that glossy look, and the shoulder is broadened.