Marco Franco is a fine artist based in Florence, Italy, and Principal Instructor in the Intensive Drawing Program at FAA.

In this video, we follow Marco’s beginning study for a rather large seated portrait painting in oil. Although the composition of the painting is simple, the set up is more complex, utilizing a mirror in front of the model and next to the canvas in order to observe the subject from multiple viewpoints.

In this space located in the historic studios in Piazzale Donatello, Florence, we learn the purpose and use of a small color study before embarking on a large scale painting. A color study is a preparatory study that focuses on understanding the value and temperature relationships within the composition of a painting. Marco explains how the study allows for the painter to make technical and conceptual decisions at the work’s onset, establish parameters of value and temperature, choose the color palette, etc.