Pre-portrait, Week 1

I am taking a new class at the Drawing Studio. This time, the class is called Pre-portrait, which is basically a still-life painting class, to prepare for painting portraits.

This week, we did a small, monochromatic painting. Mine was done using one pigment, Van Dyke Brown. It is on a 9 by 12 canvas. The subject is basically cloves of garlic.

"Finger Pricker"

This is my latest finished still-life. It is in oil on a 18 by 24 inch canvas. It took about 25 hours to complete from start to finish, over about a month.




If you want to see progress while painting it over time, click the links below:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Final

Still-life Under-painting

Here is the under-painting for my new still-life.

Still-life Under-drawing

This is the under-drawing for my next still-life. It is on an 18 by 24 inch canvas.

"A Little for the Cook"

This is my latest completed still-life, in oil, on a 18 by 24 inch canvas.



If you wish to see the different painting sessions while it was in-work, you can click the links below:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Final

Still-life Under-painting

Here is the under-painting for the new still-life. This time, I used three pigments: burnt sienna, burnt umber, and cerulean blue. The idea was to take the white of the canvas away, and give a little indication of value, and temperature.

Pencil Lay-in of a New Still-life

Here is my new still-life of a wine glass, corkscrew, and bottle, chef's knife and tomatoes on a cutting-board, and a stack of cookbooks. This one is laid in with pencil on a 18 by 24 inch canvas. I plan to paint this in oil.

"Aisles Six and Seven"

This is a completed still life in oil on a 18 by 24 canvas.



If you want to review painting sessions on for this painting, you can use the links below:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
Session 10
Session 11
Final

Still-life Under-painting

I decided to do something different this time for the under-painting for this still-life. Typically, I use a glaze of burnt sienna and medium, and then go in with burnt umber for darks. After that, I pull out some lights with a little solvent. This time, I went with a glaze of cerulean blue and medium, then using straight cerulean blue for the darks and pulling out some lights with solvent. The still-life has a lot of cool colors, and a cool light on it, so this seemed more appropriate.

Pencil Lay-in of a Still Life

I am starting a new painting this week, a still life in oil on a 18 by 24 inch canvas. Here is it laid in with a pencil on the canvas.

"Garlic Breath"

Oil, 16 by 20 inches

Still Life Under-painting

I started a new painting this week, to keep up my painting skills between painting classes. This one is an oil of a still life of some bottles of oil and vinegar, garlic, and onions. At this stage, it is just the under-painting, using just two colors, burnt sienna, and burnt umber, with some medium.

Figure Drawing

 

Figure Drawing, Class 1

I started a new class at the Drawing Studio, this week, Figure Drawing. We did a number of poses. This, however, was the only one that I think produced anything interesting -- a 20 minute pose. Here it is:

Advanced Portraits -- Painting 3

This is the third painting from our advanced portrait painting class. This was a quick one, obviously, since it is not complete. We only spent one class period on it, with maybe 2.5 hours painting. I'm not sure that I will do any more on it, since I only really like painting from a live model. As a result, it will likely stay unfinished. In fact, I kind of consider it a study, rather than a finished painting. I can see a lot of things I'd fix if I had more time.

Middle Aged Black Woman With Wavy Hair

It has been a while since I posted. It is not that I have not done anything; it is just that I have not done anything I liked.

This one is from my advanced portrait's class. Here, we played around a bit with a palette knife, again in oils.

This represents about six hours worth of work.

Portrait Painting, Two Masters, Week 3's Painting Finished

Finally, I am calling it done -- the Rembrandt-like study. Obviously, Rembrandt was a great master, and I am not. However, I like that it captures some of the ideas of Rembrandt: the dark moodiness, the feeling that is comes out of the darkness, the islands of light. So here is is in all its glory.

Portrait Painting, Two Masters, Week 3's Painting Continued

In class we are no longer working on our Rembrandt-like study. However, I took a picture of the painting so that I could continue it.

I was not entirely happy with the under-painting for this particular portrait, so I made some corrections, particularly with the shirt and the hands with opaque paint.

In doing that I liked the figure much better. However, I lost some of the transparency from glazing. For instance, the head now looks like a cardboard cutout. After the paint dries, I plan to move in with some glazes, to see if I can get that homogeneous look and feel again.

Portrait Painting, Two Masters, Week 3

This is my second portrait painting class with Mariana Carreras. In this class we will be studying the works of two masters, Rembrandt and Frida Kahlo. I am working in oils.

For week three, we spent the final session on our painting, attempting to use some of the techniques that Rembrandt used. This time we played with color. We used translucent paints with medium, like raw sienna for some yellows, and burnt sienna for some reds. We also used some opaques like yellow ochre and titanium white. I even snuck in some cadmium red, even though that was not available in Rembrandt's time.

This week I focused in on the face of the model. In fact, the rest of the painting is pretty much untouched. As a result, I am including pictures of the full painting and a close-up of the face, so you can see all the color I used.

Obviously, the painting is not finished. I did take some pictures of the model, and, as much as I hate painting from photos, I plan to continue this painting.

Portrait Painting, Two Masters, Week 2

This is my second portrait painting class with Mariana Carreras. In this class we will be studying the works of two masters, Rembrandt and Frida Kahlo. I am working in oils.

This is week two of our study of Rembrandt. This week we made a glaze of a mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, covered the whole painting, and scumbled in some titanium white. In particular, we tried to give emphasis to our areas of focus, leaving the other areas dark, similar to what Rembrandt might have done. In my case, the areas of focus are the model's face and the skull the model was holding.

Here is the result of week two's work:

Portrait Painting, Two Masters, Week 1

This is my second portrait painting class with Mariana Carreras. In this class we will be studying the works of two masters, Rembrandt and Frida Kahlo. I am working in oils.

For week one, we started studying Rembrandt. In doing that, we tried to create a painting with contrast between light and dark, focusing details on what we want to show, and subduing the details of what is not the focus.

The painting I am posting here is not complete, by any means. This is the result of the first of three classes we will spend on it. In fact, this is simply the underpainting, or grisaille.

Portrait Painting 101, Week 6

My new class at The Drawing Studio is called Portrait Painting 101, with Mariana Carreras. I am working in oils.

This week, the last week of the class, we continued the portrait that we started last week. Like the first painting, I scumbled in some paint. This time, however, I scumbled in some flesh tone, using Titanium and Cadmium Red, to add some variation. I also went in with some Cerulean Blue in the shadows. Here is the result:

Portrait Painting 101, Week 5

My new class at The Drawing Studio is called Portrait Painting 101, with Mariana Carreras. I am working in oils.

For week five, we started a new painting. This painting, we went back to the indirect method. This week we painted a model holding a wine glass, starting with the under-painting, using burnt umber over a burnt sienna glaze.

Here is my under-painting. Next week we will complete it.

Portrait Painting 101, Weeks 3 and 4

My new class at The Drawing Studio is called Portrait Painting 101, with Mariana Carreras. I am working in oils.

For weeks three and four, we worked on the same painting using the direct method. With the direct method, there is no transparency, glazes, or scumbling. We simply mixed up some opaque flesh color and went to town.

It went pretty well. In fact, my painting was the only one in class that resembled the model (which in my opinion had a lot to do with luck).

Here is the result: