The main structure of the portrait is looking good and I’m happy to let my textures, pencil strokes and base colours poke through in certain areas. Then I begin to pick out the shadows and darkest elements of the painting along with dabs of white and pinks to highlight the brightest areas.

I create a new layer on top of the detailed paint and select the Oilpaint Chunky brush with Flow turned down a little. I’ll keep it there just in case it comes in handy at some point, but it’s done its job for now. Now I have my detail I can hide the top pencil layer.

This alters the strokes’ direction of texture and blending, giving the impression that I’m painting from different angles on a real canvas. I also adjust the angle of the brush head. Next, I add more structural and detailed brushstrokes that have a lot more texture to them. Then I pick the Oilpaint Chunky brush and use the Color Picker tool by pressing down on the area of colour I wish to select. I create a new layer on top of the blocking-in layer. I work swiftly during this stage because my pencil layer is still on top to guide me for the more detailed work that’s to come. Then I switch to the Oilpaint Filbert brush and lift the pressure off my stylus towards the end of each stroke to create a wispy, paint running-out effect. I loosely block in colour values, basic shapes and shadows. I create a new layer between my two pencil layers and select the Oilpaint Short tool again, this time reducing the size a little so I have more control.

Adobe fresco paintings