Roughly sketch out your subject in charcoal, then refine the lines in ink. Even though the sketch will be completely covered in paint later, it is still an important step, and it gives you a visual memory of the subject.

Use a brush with a small, stiff tip to draw the subject with raw umber. This is the preliminary scrub-in (or frottie) of dark patterns using oil paint.

Use a flat tone for hair and skin areas. As painting progresses, this will later serve as your undertone.

While the skin and hair undertones are still wet, you can paint the rest of the canvas.

After the previous stage has had enough time to dry, fill out the hair areas with a dark mass of color, in this case, brown.

Paint in the lighter hair areas while the canvas is still wet. Use a somewhat ragged brush with a very small amount of paint. Follow the directions of the hair strands, but remember to paint only where the light is on the hair.

Paint on the subject's facial features. Use the faintly showing ink under the painted undertone as your guide.

Give time for the painting to dry, then start fleshing out the features. Color in shadowed areas should be warmer. Lightly paint on the shadows, beginning with the darkest areas first, graduating towards softer shadow areas.

While the canvas is still wet,
Improve the middle tones of the skin with translucent layers. Use more opaque layers as you gradually move into the lighter skin tone areas. Your painting can finish here, or you can check out the extra step below…

View printable tutorial here. (Or download a printable PDF here)