Inna, 10x14

Hello Friends:

I started this portrait of Inna at Mainstreet the other day and finished it up at home. The lighting was actually pretty complicated, coming straight down on her forehead and touching each of her cheekbones. I covered my first thin wash of paint with generous dollops of paint on my palette knife to force the darks even darker and to give the painting a more impressionistic look.

For the background, I laid down a wash of bright orange paint, then layered white, blue, and green on top with my palette knife. This technique of layering complementary colors over a bright wash allows the background to "sit behind" the sitter, which is always a good thing!

Sargent at the MFA

Hello Friends:

This last weekend I had the great fortune to visit my daughter AND John Singer Sargent in Boston. To see so many of the paintings that I have admired and studied over the years in one place gave me the same physical reaction as seeing a celebrity in person-- weak knees, sweaty palms, general giddiness...

To experience and be moved by genius is a privilege. Do computer programmers get weak knees when they see code that is written eloquently? Do salespeople get misty eyed when they hear a pitch that is right on the money? I feel so lucky to be an artist, and to be moved when I recognize the real, true thing.

A Sunny Day, 6x6"

Hello Friends:

This is a tiny portrait of a little girl in the sunlight. I entered it into this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge. I tried to keep my brush strokes very loose, and details to a minimum. I hope you like this impressionistic style.

To view the challenge, please click on DPW Challenge.

Julie

Hello Friends:

This is a portrait of Julie. a student at Mainstreet who came in to sit for us last Friday. I got the "bones" of the portrait started in about 2 hours while she sat for us, then put in another hour or so this morning to put in the details. I challenged myself to get the wonderful twinkle in her eye that is just so "Julie"!

Charcoal Demo of Jenny

Hello Friends:

It's portrait season again! I'm teaching a brand new class at Mainstreet entitled "The Nuts and Bolts of Portraiture", and we've had two sessions so far. We began our class with the basics of how to measure the proportions of the head and find the major shadow areas. When the correct measurements and light/shadow areas are in place, it's relatively easy to drop in the final details of the features (eyes, nose, mouth).

I was so happy with the progress of my class! I think people are surprised at how straightforward a portrait can be if they take the time in the beginning to map it out correctly.