Harold Speed - On Painting a Head,and The Science and Practice of Oil Painting

Hensley Henson, Bishop of Durham (1929)
140 X 112 cm
oil on canvas

In 1924, British portrait and landscape painter, Harold Speed (1852-1957) published a follow-up to his highly successful The Science and Practice of Drawing (Seeley, Service & Co. London, 1913), with a book titled The Science and Practice of Oil Painting.  With its re-issues and reprints, it would not be surprising to learn that this book has been in print longer than any other instructional painting guide of the 20th century.   And for good reason.  Speed's well thought-out and cogent descriptions of the training he received at London's Royal Academy have made the manual invaluable for representational artists, and explains why it is a featured book on many-an-artist's book shelf.

Below is a brief description of painting the head alla prima (the full description takes up thirteen pages of the book, followed by several examples of how other artists from history handled a similar portrait situation).

The Labourer's Wife (1937)
98.5 X 89.5 cm
oil on canvas

"Whatever individual method is eventually adopted, it is always wise to start working on some definite system."  

"Do not set the same palette whatever the subject you are going to paint. Some of the colours may not be needed ; but if you have them set, you may be tempted to use more colours than are necessary, and this will disturb the breadth of your colouring. The fewer colours used, the more harmonious and large in effect your colouring will be." 

Note the emphasis on the underlying structure of the skull.

"For flesh painting you need a red, a yellow, and a neutraliser, something to mute the force of the red and yellow and give you the more neutral tones. Hair and possibly eyes may want some special colour or colours, if they are of a particularly marked hue."

"In this case the red was made with a mixture of burnt sienna and Indian red ; which gave the quality of red running through the slightly olive complexion of the Italian model. Yellow ochre as supplied by the colourman was all right."

"There are a variety of colours that can be used for making the neutral tints : according to the quality of the complexion. Brilliant skins often need blue ; and sometimes terra vert, or even viridian, are used. But in this case I adopted the scheme that I think Velasquez often used. At least this was the conclusion I came to when studying his work at the Prado ; and that was to make the neutral tones with two blacks - a warm and a cold one. The warm black the Spaniards use, “negro hueso,” is our bone brown. But it is a bad dryer and I find ivory black, with a very little burnt sienna, makes a very similar colour of better drying capacity, if a good transparent variety of burnt sienna be selected. Blue-black does for the cold black ; but here I find the addition of a little cobalt blue increases its usefulness."

"For medium to thin the colours I used a mixture of equal parts poppy oil and slow-drying petroleum. But turpentine and linseed oil would do equally well if you want a quicker dryer."

"The paint as supplied in tubes is a little stiffer than is always comfortable to paint with, and it is as well to thin the white by mixing up some of your medium with it. By this means a more uniform thickness of paint is preserved throughout the work, than would be possible were you to thin the paint by continually dipping your brush in your dipper. It is so difficult to be sure of only taking up just the right quantity of medium on the brush ; and varying thicknesses of paint uncontrolled give a poor quality. It is as well also to set out a small quantity of the thicker white from the tube, for use on those occasions when crisp touch is wanted that will not mix with what is underneath, such as the high lights on the forehead, cheekbone, nose, etc."

Old Tom
63.9 X 51 cm
oil on canvas

It is unlikely to find pdf versions of  The Science and Practice of Oil Painting online.  This is due in no small part to the fact that the book has yet to enter the public domain, and will not do so until 2019. Copies of the original 1924 edition are available, but usually list for around $60.  But luckily, Dover Publications began issuing a reprint of the book in 1987.  Under the title, Oil Painting Techniques and Materials, it is widely available.  It lists for $14.95, but can often be found for under $10 for a new copy.

Speed's The Science and Practice of Drawing, another excellent book, is also offered by Dover. Because of its earlier publication date, however, this book is in the public domain, and can be easily found online in pdf format.  If you are like me, however, there is no substitute to having a real book in your hands, and it is well worth it to pay the price for this particular title.

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1927-1934)
130.8 X 105.4 cm
oil on canvas

Sir Frederick Thomas Edridge
140 X 109 cm
oil on canvas

Charles William Early (1912)
125.5 X 100 cm
oil on canvas

Henry Dreyfus
128 X 102 cm
oil on canvas

Sir Reuben Vincent Barrow (1917)
120 X 109 cm
oil on canvas

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1907)
63.5 X 50.8 cm
oil on canvas

Portrait of a Lady
71 X 49.5 cm
oil on canvas

Dorothy Chapman, MA, Principal of Westfield College
76 X 64 cm
oil on canvas

Lady Diana Bridgeman
67 X 56 cm
oil on canvas

Frank Pomeroy, RA (1898)
90 X 70 cm
oil on canvas

Henry Rutson (1915)
126 X 101 cm
oil on canvas