My 100 heads portrait challenge

Now and again I get the urge to challenge myself. If you’re new to my work, you might not have seen the 30 in 30 seed packet paintings, or the 30 in 30 alla prima still life challenge.  Creating a challenge allows you go in depth and really explore a subject matter or technique. It grows skill and commitment and attempts to create habit – a very valuable asset for the lone painter.

One project that I’ve watched from afar on Instagram and always wanted to do is the 100 heads challenge. I’ve shied away though, fully aware of how much it took to produce 30 paintings in 30 days, on top of a day job and mother to 2 children. The only way I can do this is on my terms. I need to honour my commitments as a working mother – I need to make the dinner, be present, continue with my job and yet be true to myself. And so I’m painting when I can, aiming for around 2 paintings a week but not berating myself if I don’t achieve it.

How to create a portrait in the 100 head challenge

This is what it looks like.

Using largely the Museum app for reference (possibly only for Apple users), I have made a profile and occasionally look through and bookmark fabulous ‘inspiration’ – the name on the app for uploaded selfies to use as painting and drawing reference. With fresh sheet of either gessoed watercolour paper – paper of choice is the Cass Art pad for it’s wonderful smoothness – or Arches oil paper taped to my board, I look for the day’s favoured inspiration and begin.

With iphone firmly lodged in a bendy arm holder, and Auto-lock set to NEVER so it doesn’t turn itself off, I find either an audio book or podcast, then settle in with the chosen photo, ready to go.

I sketch the portrait out either in pencil or direct in thinned burnt umber oil paint. Pencil feels easier but unless you fix it, it muddies the paint. Then I begin to apply the paint. I’m using oils, thinned with either Liquin Original or Artists Painting Medium. On the Arches Oil paper I’m finding the Oil Painting Medium works better – it helps the paint glide over the surface.

There’s a shared joke amongst painters, that non-painters have an assumption that painting is ‘so relaxing’. Painting, pushing wet paint around, is an absolute joy, yes, but trying to create a likeness, trying to represent a tangible object in two dimensions is a series of problems that need to be solved. Problem solving is satisfying, when you succeed, but not relaxing. As a designer in my day job, often using Photoshop, the biggest mind shift when painting is that there’s no undo button.

Painting requires probably more time observing, than it does to actually apply the paint. Painting and drawing are about making connections – how close is this to that; what does this align with; if I take a measurement from nose to chin, is that measurement anywhere else in the face; what are the darkest darks; what is the negative space like – I could go on. As I paint, I make a mark and then question the mark against the reference and continue to question until the painting is complete.

The paintings for this challenge are taking a minimum of two hours, some a lot longer. As I begin to introduce parent and babies into the reference pile – two heads – I’m finding that they’re obviously more complex – but extremely satisfying.

I began this challenge wanting to explore a filmic blur – a style I was using on my latest work. Somewhere into these I’ve started to veer towards accuracy rather than blur, but over the course of the 100 portraits I have time and space to pull in a different direction.

I’m adding each head to a growing collection on this page. To see the heads before anyone else, sign up to my newsletter – I am emailing two or three portraits at a time before they’re posted live. I then post the paintings on Instagram and Facebook every few days so do be sure to follow me there. Each portrait is for sale in my online shop, aside from a few where people have given me a reference photo to paint from.

And if this challenge is making you wonder about commissioning a portrait, I’d love to hear from you. There’s lots of information on my portrait commissions page, including an enquiry form button at the foot of the page.