Rough Start

A Quiet Exchange, graphite, 6 x 8, TMDD Series 2015

Rough Start, a working title, graphite, 6 x 8  TMDD IN PROGRESS

I knew I was off to a rough start this morning when I almost fell through the glass shower enclosure and then had a toilet overflow.  By the time I sat down to sketch, I knew I couldn't expect  much.  My pencil was out of control as the minutes ticked away.  Composure finally returned five minutes before the Sun Torch turned off.  This lovely lady with the smile will just wait till tomorrow for brilliant.

Yesterday's rendition of a serious Ellis listening to a friend came off a lot better. I had had no rude awakenings to raise my blood pressure.  Done in the quiet of morning, this sketch was not affected by stress; it has painting possibilities.  One of his eyes is a tad off, but overall that's my baby. Rough Start isn't even close to a  likeness; I started it too close to the morning's irritations.  I should have waited till one twenty over eighty returned and the bathroom floor was dry.

If you've been following my Thirty Minute Daily Drawing Series, you know there is no rule about finishing the sketch in that thirty minutes.   The only rules are to draw daily. and stop on the half hour--don't make a big deal out of it.  Next Monday, Daylight Savings Time begins. I will put away my Sun Torch till next October. I don't think I'll put my drawing equipment away though. Sketching has been a wonderful way to start the day, on a par with meditation.

Edited: It's A Different Kind of Monday

OCTOBER 1ST,2012, today, I edited this post down to the nitty-gritty, for I will have no art to post today. I've suddenly found myself in a peculiar situation. Ellis kept it a secret till last night.

Would you believe that after three years of very little design work, this week has filled up with appointments for sizable projects. Though they are the source of our livelihood,  I'm not too sure I'm happy about this new development. They are definitely a good sign  of economic recovery and that's great news.

BUT: After painting daily for three years and finding my way, residential design projects are an  inconvenience. Instead of starting Mr. Fuz Zy Pants like I planned this morning,  I'm dusting off my drafting board and looking for my drafting tools, Berol  #3H pencils and vellum sheets. I'm happy for us, the real estate business, home furnishing businesses, carpenters and trades people everywhere, and the country, of course. But I am not thrilled to lay down my brushes just when I was getting a good grip on them.  I  have difficulty giving my best to two loves. I'm resenting the intrusion. 

Zac, Oil, 8" x 10," 2012

LOOSENESS SHOULD BE THE WAY A PAINTING APPEARS, NOT HOW IT WAS ACCOMPLISHED   --Richard Schmid

 Using reference photos encourages too many details, UNLESS you  don't put them right next to your paint surface, but rather tape them up six to eight feet away from the easel. That distance would encourage squinting to determine the main shapes and would eliminate the distraction of details, which, when overdone, is a give away that you were copying a photograph and not painting from life. Working from photographs is generally frowned upon by Alla Prima artists. This portrait artist thinks that's BS; it's a snobbish opinion and unrealistic. There are subjects to be painted that must be photographed to stop the action, to catch the moment, to freeze time and light. To frown upon or to be embarrassed that you employ a tool that technology has given us is ridiculous. The trick is to paint enough from life to know how to enhance the photographed image.

With Kelly, I wasn't in a hurry. I considered the placement of my brushstrokes carefully,
but overall didn't over think.  Zac , however, did suffer from over-thinking and too much reading about technique.
A reference photo was used with both paintings--both photos were taken five years ago. Both people are older
and are as unavailable for sittings now ad they were then.

Get out The Champagne!

I'm nearly to the finish line--today should do it. I can taste the champagne.  I've got nothing but touch ups left and blending--a tad of toning down.  What an experience this has been. I loved it as much as I hated the discipline. The photograph is close to the real painting, but dull by comparison. When I tried to brighten it up, the colors went cheap, tinny, not as rich as they really are.  So here it is as the Minolta, the lesser of my digitals, took the photo outside  in North light. Before going to work,I like to checkout any  flaws the photograph catches that I might not in the studio. There's not too many corrections to be made.

This is the original photograph. I thought then
it was beautiful as a photograph, but insufficient
as a reference photo for a portrait.

This first serious portrait in oils took me four months.  Having to get comfortable with oils again was a major part of that time( my fault, I couldn't see using any other medium). Baby hands took a few pencil studies and a lot concentration on my brush work. The newborn infant's facial features were a challenge as well.  Skin tone matching was an on-going headache (until I got that I should mix a batch of the middle tone).  I was always fighting the photographer's flash and still don't think I was entirely successful. And full of self doubt, I procrastinated

You may recall I learned about the distortion of the photographic flash as a kid. When my parents had a portrait done of me. The artist worked at first from photographs he took at our house.  Then, weeks later, I had to go for a sitting. At that sitting, it turned out my skin was blotchy. He had painted me sunburned splotched with strong white highlights.---similar to how I painted Honey who was blotchy from his sunburn.  It took several sittings before he got me right--but he never did put the pink back in my confirmation dress, which he took to his studios when he took the photographs. The pink was beautiful--it was the color of angle hair coral.
POINT OF STORY : SITTINGS ARE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY IN PORTRAITURE.

I doctored the reference photo I was given darker so the facial features were more defined. I also made a black and white print. Neither of the pictures  here are the same coloration as  the painting.

Blotchy, splotchy, sunburned Honey
It was the truth. I swear.

Coming To Terms

Joan Sicignano wished me well over the weekend on coming to terms with which art path to follow. And that's exactly what I did .

Portraits DRAWN IN PENCIL is where I've got skill. Portraits painted in oils is a whole other matter.

Nevertheless, this woman, with the aches and pains to remind her she's in the forth quarter, would be foolish to think she could ever reach the kind of skill she would insist upon at this late date. But I'm going to pursue it anyway, demanding as it is, (probably why I never carried my drawing that far). I've liked the challenge these last weeks. I've liked feeling energized. So get set to see a lot of me. I am my most consenting model.

I am also going to follow my instincts when relief of the stress is needed. A lot of expertise is required in portraiture involving all of the genres, so one has to keep up with flowers, drapery and/or clothing, all the stuff of still lifes and architectural elements like window casings and so on. I happen to favor portraits that don't stare out at the viewers, but show the viewer who the sitter was, i.e.Whistler's mom liked her rocking chair, L.W.Roth prefers painting and reading. (With portraiture, charcoal has come back into my life. It is the perfect get acquainted medium. This drawing is a study for a new, more appropriate header. Plus the Weeping Willow branches are a brighter yellow, there's greening going on and there's a robin on my back lawn).

Oils are back in my life too. The last two days, I've been brushing up with Ben Martin's very informative, free,online course. It's very well done and brought me up to date on what's new. I also pulled out Ralph Mayer's The Artist's Handbook on Materials and Techniques, (1970 edition would you believe) and reread it for the fiftieth time. Mayer's chemistry differed with Martin's but provided necessary guidelines particularly with the use and overuse of linseed oil. OnBen Lustenhouwer's videos I noted and immediately saw the value in a great portraiture accessory for my easel: a piece of masonite, or pressboard, trimmed out with some frame moulding and fitted with a tricky piece of hardware that attaches a mahl stick that will swivel and turn into play whenever firmly drawn defining lines are needed and then swivels away when they are not. A beginner with painted portraits, I duplicated that device with a long, gallery stretched and still unwrapped canvas. It worked--minus the mahl arm--it was wide enough to allow me to place the canvas in progress, abreast with the reference drawing--important for matching flesh tones, the portrait painter's nemesis.

Happy, stress free painting everyone. May all your flesh tones be accurate. This week, the beautiful children with no names will be my focus.