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Thursday, October 23, 2014

Michael

           
  



Slow Alla Prima.  This is still in the works on the easel.  It is difficult due to the reference being a photo taken with a flash.  But I am learning to see it.  I am also practicing applying color over a monochrome--lots of self doubt here.   I am also procrastinating working on my monochrome.  I do wish I had gotten into this, this seriously, years ago. --I just ordered another book: How To See Color and Paint It by Arthur Stern. My order really speaks volumes of how insecure I feel when it comes to color.  Note the brushwork--from rough to scumbling drybrush.  

14 comments:

  1. Hi Linda,
    It's a wonderful portrait, but don't let my compliment change your mind about anything. Just kidding. I'd be mighty happy with such an effort. As for your doubts about color...The Maestro always used to tell me, "You can paint anything any color you want--as long as the values are correct." You know the truth of his words, so don't sweat it too much. Now may be the time to call upon all those color charts you did. Pick a winner or two and have some fun, I'm quite certain your son won't mind. :)) And, for what it's worth...I think the colors I see are excellent.
    Have a nice evening, Linda.
    Sincerely,
    Gary.

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    1. Thanks Gary. I did decide to do this as a warm up for that huge self portrait. I figured if I could get anything real looking from the gawd-awful reference, I'd be fine. But you're right. I had nothing to fear. My monochrome is on the money with regards to values. I should be able to translate them. Luckily, I won't really have to think about this till January. The mono is going to have to wait as such till I get back from watercolors on the beach on Mexico.

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  2. Wow! This is phenomenal. It does not feel like a portrait - it feels like a portrayal. There is personality here, depth, pride.

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    1. Phenomenal? A bit over the top Dan. It's coming. Scumbling dry brush slowly. His eyes are good, but there's still work to be done. The camera flash created deep shadows that distorted form. I really should go back across the country and do a proper photo shoot. But he is giving me a nice time seeing how helpful a monochrome is with regards to matching the tones with the right color tones. Thanks for your enthusiasm though. I appreciate the encouragement.

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  3. For an insecure painter, you are doing a damn good job! This latest portrait of Michael has the makings of a superb portrait. Go, Linda, go!!!!!
    Kathryn

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    1. I think we all are insecure painters. Insecurity comes with the title. Every painting is a challenge to achieve a plateau closer to perfection.

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  4. Portrait with the soul of Michael painted by you, with mastery.
    When a portraitist gets here, cultivate insecurities, just because
      still want to improve on perfection.

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    1. I totally agree! My next painting will be my best!

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  5. The color is coming along fine. What immediately caught my eye is the change in the right eyebrow. It now peaks in a different place, and it distracted me. I don't know why, or if it is good or bad. I am still studying the chin.

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    1. Drying for a bit before resuming work. He has been changed quite a bit since I showed the monochrome a few days ago--and will change more, as I refine and balance color tones. Your comment suggests, I shouldn't show works in progress? I probably shouldn't.

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  6. Please don't stop showing WIPs, others, (including me) learn with you. Michael is coming along a treat. I relate to your difficulty of applying colour over monochrome, which is probably why I do one or the other, not both in one painting. Each to their own!

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  7. I'd like to know 'my own' already! I eally only like showing WIP. By the time I'm done with a painting, I'm totally bored with it. The excitement is in the doing. Seeing a painting in progress on my computer is another way to check out what still needs doing. Looking at it in a mirror isn't enough. I just watched Tim's Vermeer, a documentary on how Vermeer produced his illustrious paintings by using a mirror. Records could never be found that he was trained as an artist. He might have been a technician. Try and see it if you can.

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    1. Oh yes, my thoughts exactly....I get bored half way through so many times! Not heard of 'Tims Vermeer', who is Tim?

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    2. Tim is an inventor who became a billionaire making things work in the movies--special effects guru. Vermeer is a great master painter from the sixteenth century. Tim's dream was to paint a Vermeer. And he did when he discovered how this master who had no artistic training accomplished his phenomenal masterpieces: with mirrors. He designed a mirror device similar to one he thinks Vermeer had to have used to get the incredible results he got in paintings. This documentary supports. The one that David Hockney did concerning the use of camera-like tools by artists since the sixteenth century. Being an artist who loves the camera for freezing poses and expressions and light, I love this kind of investigation. Photo Realism is actually quite an old movement, not at all a development in the modern era.

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