Paul McCartney - Step by Step

Step 1 - The outline of the photo (taken from the guide to Liverpool's museums!) is transferred to the board in pencil. You can see that parts of the face don't look quite right here. Sometimes this is an optical illusion created by the lack of tone, and once you get some shadows down it starts to look right. I had several problems with this painting, which will be addressed step by step.

Step 2 - Being a grayscale painting, I didn't have to worry about colour, so I just slapped on the various shades of gray, with only the slightest suggestion of blending around the jawline, chin and neck. At this point I noticed the eye was sloping down too much, and the chin didn't look right due to lack of shading.

Step 3 - I painted over the eye and tried again, now it looks right. The chin still looks funny, but I can't quite put my finger on the problem.

Step 4 - Some basic highlights on the hair, and blending of the facial tones. Still not quite happy with the chin, but it's looking better the more shadow I apply. I start to apply the first hints of folds in the jacket.

Step 5 - I had to shave a tiny section off the tip of the chin, and finally it looks good. I start to add the details, such as the fluffy sideburn, shiny highlights in the hair, and more texture on the coat. Almost done at this stage.

Step 6 - The last thing is just a few more texture details on the clothing, and a general smoothing of all the blended areas on the face. It took a while, but I finally got a likeness that I was very pleased with.