Day 5 - All Smiles

All Smiles, Acrylic on Gessoed Mat Board, 10"x7"

Day 5 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

I struggled with this one. I started with an Indian yellow under-painting. Then I blocked in the big shapes using black and white (I took a photo to show what I mean by that). Finally, I added the local color and the details. As with many good photos of people (read properly exposed, etc.), the photo for this lady had very few distinct shadows and the value range was pretty tight. Using Photoshop, I increased the contrast and decreased the brightness to better delineate the shapes. That made it a bit easier to see the shapes and to determine what areas needed to be darker or more intensely colored.

When I do the block-in, I try to get the shapes and values and a good sense of the facial expression. That helps me stay on track as I paint the subtleties in the final layers. In this painting, I think I lost some of the joy in the original - the block-in looks more playful and less posed than the final rendering. Something to work on.

Day 4 - Using Color

Untitled, Acrylic on Gessoed Mat Board, 10"x7"

Day 4 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

For this painting, I used the adjusted photo of my cousin that formed the basis for yesterday's painting. I liked the drama of the adjusted photo and decided to paint it with the stronger pigments. Quite a difference!

So far, the methodology that I chose for my paintings is working. I paint directly on the board using black and white to define the main shapes. Once I have those, I add gray areas to further block-in the facial features. I haven't been doing any drawing at all. I start with the eyes, then add the nose and mouth before defining the shape of the face, chin, hairline, etc. By not drawing, I feel like I am able to preserve a painterly look and a looseness that I normally have to struggle to maintain. I like the results even though I am not achieving likeness yet.

Day 3 - Study in Pink

Study in Pink, Acrylic on Gessoed Mat Board, 10"x7"

Day 3 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

For this painting, I used a photo of a cousin of mine that was taken about ten years ago. She is very fair,with light skin, hair and eyes. I really struggled to see the shapes because the values occupied such a narrow range. Frustrated, I went into Photoshop and really increased the contrast and decreased the lightness of the original photo. The result was a much clearer definition of the shapes and relative values. I used the adjusted photo to do the black and white bock-in and then went back to the original photo to put in the final colors. Other than the eyes, this painting only used black, white, and alizarin crimson.

Day 2 - Harley Brown's Friend

Harley Brown's Friend (after Harley Brown), Acrylic on Gessoed Mat Board, 10"x7"

Day 2 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

This is from another Harley Brown demo piece in an old International Artist magazine. I used a lot more color than in my first two attempts, basically expanding to what I consider a full palette - cadmium red, Indian yellow, ultramarine blue, titanium white, and carbon black. The under-painting is Indian yellow - you can see it around the eyes and around the edges although it also comes through near the hairline and around the mouth.

So far, so good. I am enjoying the challenge of doing faces, and so far, I like my results.

Day 1 - Incognito

Incognito (after Harley Brown), Acrylic on Gessoed Mat Board, 10"x7"

Day 1 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

I found the source for this painting in an article by Harley Brown in an old International Artist magazine. He was kvetching about sunglasses and how they obscure the eyes so you can't see what the person is thinking, although he also admitted that you can get a really cool painting with sunglasses as the subject. This was one of his examples.

I painted almost all of this painting in black and white, adding just a few hints of cadmium red under the eyes and in the cheeks and letting the red lips really pop. This painting just flowed.

Sneak Preview - 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Untitled (after Harley Brown), Acrylic on Gessoed Mat Board, 10"x7"

Theme for 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Painting People

Sunday the new 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge begins. I have decided to make my theme people, or perhaps more accurately, faces. I'm not calling them portraits for now because I have never painted people's faces before and don't expect to be able to get a good likeness right out of the chute.

Goals:

Before beginning, I wanted to define what my goals are with respect to painting people. I came up with the following:

1. Get the proportions, shapes, and values right.
2. Get a sense of life - I want them to look like real, living, breathing people.
3. Make it painterly and expressive.
4. Look for and paint variety and diversity - black and white, men and women, old and young, fat and thin.
5. With luck and practice, sneak up on likeness.

Strategy:

Since I am just beginning, I thought I would start by copying the paintings of someone who knows what they are doing. To that end, I pulled out a pile of my old International Artist magazines and turned to Harley Brown's wonderful articles on painting people. Many of his paintings are done in a way that makes the individual shapes that make up the face and their values easy to see.

Once I have done a few, I plan to switch to photographs for subjects. One thing I have already discovered as I search through my files for photos is that I can use Photoshop to increase the contrast on a photo to make the individual shapes easier to see.

Techniques:

Since one of my main goals is to make expressive paintings, I decided to forego drawing entirely. I am starting with black and white paint on a colored ground and roughly blocking in the big shapes that define the face, taking time to make sure the shapes and values are good and placed properly. Once that's done, I finish with whatever palette I choose for that piece. In the painting above, I used only black and white paint to create the face. It was my very first try - it doesn't look exactly like Harley Brown's portrait, but it does have life and energy. I am happy with it.

Materials:

Because I am learning I decided to use scrap mat board gessoed on both sides to paint on. I make lots of repro prints and the cut outs from the mats generally get thrown out. I decided that using them to paint studies would be a good use for them (they're archival - Bainbridge Alphamat Artcare). Unless I decide to get crazy and play with collage, the paintings are done with Golden Acrylics.

January 2017 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Hot Rides, Collage/Acrylic on Watercolor Paper, 6.5"x6.5", $175

It's hard to believe that the end of 2016 is almost here already. I just signed up for the January 2017 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. The idea for the challenge was dreamed up by artist Leslie Saeta as a way to jump start the new year. I have been participating in the challenge (January and September) for several years now. For me, having to finish and post a new painting every day forces me to work a bit more quickly, think in series, and put a work aside after several hours rather than picking at it for a week or two. I don't want to do that for every painting (some work just needs more time and effort), but it is a good way to work out some new ideas or try out a new technique. I haven't come up with a theme yet - that's what December is for.

Note: The painting above is currently at the Bryan Gallery as part of their holiday small picture exhibition/sale called GEMS. You can call them at (802) 644-5100 or e-mail at info@bryangallery.org. My painting, "All the News...," (shown below) is also in the show.

All the News..., Collage/Acrylic on Watercolor Paper, 6.5"x6.5", $175