Try this chapter out on your device to see if it will work for you. Be sure to try the video clip as well. You will need to be online with high speed internet to watch the video on YouTube.

Preparation

Photographs and Guideline Drawing Preparation

The secret to ease in painting the face is the guideline drawing positioned beneath the fabric. It is very easy to create a guideline drawing.

Taking the Photo

Let me first make a comment about copyright. Professionally taken photos are copyrighted. If you plan on displaying your finished quilt in an exhibit, it is best to take your own photo to avoid any copyright infringement.

A good clear photo is necessary for painting the face. A photo can be selected from the many you have already taken. The difficulty with this is that the photos are often taken from a distance and details are not clearly visible. You will have more control over the quality if you take a photo especially for the purpose of painting a face.

Photo Preparation

Enlarge the face photo to the desired finished size of the face you want to paint. I recommend that the finished size of the face be slightly smaller than life-size. I prefer not to add heavy quilting to the face. A large finished face will leave too much area unquilted and may look monstrous.

If you have a digital camera or scanner and color printer, you may be able to print your own enlarged photo. Otherwise, an office supply store will be able to make a color enlargement. It is important that the photo be enlarged in color as this will be a reference tool while painting. It will be much easier to copy if your brain does not have to do a re-sizing calculation.

The color photo can also be scanned into a computer, enlarged, and printed out in color if you have the tools available. You may also want to make a black and white copy of the enlarged photo. This is a helpful tool for seeing the shading.

If you are experienced with a computer “paint” type program, you can convert the color photo to gray scale and posterize the photo or apply a “Gaussian Blur” and increase the contrast in the gray scale photo. Reduce the number of colors to eight to ten colors. Experiment to see what works best. This will create a very good graphic example of the areas in shades of gray.

I have included the color and black and white photographs as printable PDFs.

Tips for good photos

•Take photos outdoors on an overcast, but bright day. This will offer the best lighting to get natural color and soft shadows. Position the subject in a shaded area to avoid high contrast shadows. Deep shadows will hide features of the face, making it very difficult to paint.

•The subject should stand in front of a background that will contrast with their hair and face. This will make it much easier to see the shape of the face and hair.

•Take a close-up photo of the subjects face. If you use a close-up feature on the camera, this will avoid having to stand so close to the subject that they feel uncomfortable.

•Take several photos from different angles and with various facial expressions. This will give you a variety of photos to choose from.

•A closed mouth is much easier to paint for the first time.

•Take additional photos of the subject posing in order to get reference photos for the rest of the body.

Preparing the Guideline Drawing

Full size Basic Beauty printable guideline drawing available for download at http://BonnieMcCaffery.com/ebook/pfguideline.pdf . When printing, do not scale or resize.

1. Slide the enlarged color photo into a clear plastic report cover. Use a black permanent pen to outline the shape of the face and head. Draw additional lines for the facial features - the outline of the lips, the outline of the nose, and the outline of the features in the eye. Draw lines where there are any strong contrasts in color. Lines are also drawn where there are strong shadows or bright areas of highlight. I like to use dotted lines where there are subtle shadings or highlights. The guideline drawing lines will be necessary for determining the placement of the facial features, shadows, and highlights. Draw lines wherever necessary to show you areas of change. This will not be a pretty drawing.

2. Add two large “+” signs to opposite corners of the report covers to act as registration marks. Position these in areas outside of the face. These will be used to realign the fabric later.

3. Remove the photo from the report cover. Replace it with a plain white piece of paper. The white piece of paper is needed to see the lines you have just drawn.

Setup to Paint

You are ready to paint the face. Gather your supplies. You will need:

•DecoArt SoSoft Fabrics Paints

DSS41 Burnt Sienna – shading and eyebrows

DSS38 Soft Red – base lip color

DSS35 Soft Peach – highlights on the lip

DSS1 White – whites of the eyes and the iris

DSS24 Lamp Black – pupil, eyeliner and lashes

DSS13 True Blue, DSS41 Burnt Sienna, or DSS44True Green – iris

DAS1 Brush & Blend Extender

•Brushes

Size 6 round brush

Size 4 or 5 round brush

Size 0 fine liner brush

•Plastic plate palette

•Cup of clean water

•A paper towel

•Color reference photo

•Black and white copy of the reference photo

•Spray bottle of water

•Masking tape

•Pencil

•Flesh colored fabric, washed and ironed to remove any finish on the fabric. Cut large enough to cover the area to be painted.

•Guideline drawing – for the “Basic Beauty” you will need to print a copy of the guideline drawing available on the website (http://BonnieMcCaffery.com/ebook/pfguideline.pdf) or trace the guideline drawing on a report cover with a permanent black pen as described.

Full size Basic Beauty guideline drawing available for download at http://BonnieMcCaffery.com/ebook/pfguideline.pdf . When printing, do not scale or resize.

•Clear report cover or page protector.

1. The guideline drawing provided for the “Basic Beauty” is on page 89. Make a copy and slide this into a clear report cover to protect it from the water. If you create your own guideline drawing on paper, slide it into a report cover to protect it from the water. If you draw your own guideline drawing on the report cover, place a piece of plain white paper in the report cover to make the guideline drawing more visible.

2. Use two pieces of masking tape to tape the guideline drawing to the back of the flesh colored fabric. Be sure that the fabric lays flat against the guideline drawing.

3. Position the prepared fabric in front of you. If you are right-handed, place the palette and cup of water to the right of the fabric. Those who are left-handed should place the palette and cup of water to the left of the fabric. Fold a paper towel in half and set next to or below the palette. Place the reference photos on the opposite side of the cup and palette. I like to have the bottles of paint handy above the palette and cup.

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