YOP 12 - Self Portrait

 The last YOP of the year is due tomorrow, the 20th, but I'm posting early because of the strong storm system heading our way for the next 24-36 hours.  During those storms I unplug everything.  I just hope the power stays on but our area is not noted for that during these storms.

For this last YOP of our first year (we start a second year beginning April 20th), I wanted to do more like a sequence drawing/painting of  body/head positions.  My goal was do something different than the usual self-portrait.  The likeness is there in the drawing and the unfinished painting but as you can see from the photo below, I missed getting the features right so the expressions look different. 

 I struggled with this painting from the very beginning.  I even got out my grayscale so that I could check the shadows to determine how dark 40% would be from the lightest light before I began painting.  The shadows which took up the biggest percentage of the face were/are the most difficult for me.  I either went to dark or too light, too red or too yellow or too blue or too much water to paint ratio or not enough water - needless to say, lifting paint as much as I did overworked the paper. 

Here is a composite photo of the three positions.  I'm not great at photoshop so the photo looks really rough.  There was enough information though to get the tilt of the head, the angles of the features.

On another note, I want to thank everyone that is following this blog and all those that add their comments.  It means a great deal to me and I hope in some small way, there is some information that you can find useful. 

More Composition Studies

For today's study I chose John Singer Sargent's, "The Artist Sketching", from johnsingersargent.org.  Click the link to review the painting. 

I saw the main thrust of the composition in two ways, first as a fulcrum:

Then I saw it as a radial composition with the circular movement.  :

Next, I used a Sharpie pen to work out the black and whites of the painting which I think more clearly shows the radial movement.

I've posted this for comments in the March 6 Composition thread at Wet Canvas, hosted by Larry Seiler.  I hope I haven't missed the mark on the composition of this painting. 

Analogous Colors

I've been working on this daffodil painting using analogous colors as the color scheme.  Azo and New Gamboge for yellow, perinone orange, perm. red and perm. alizarin crimson, then added in Cobalt and Phthalo Blue as the complement used for graying the yellow and red mixes, and for mixing greens. 

I've been finding it difficult to get good form in this painting so there has been a lot of lifting and repainting.  My goal was not to go too dark on the shadow side of the daffs but haven't achieved the right values to create depth within the daffs.  Thanks to Pat at paintingfriends.com for the reference photo. 

Homework

I have been reviewing the first session of a webinar being held by Larry Seiler on Wet Canvas.  The Wet Canvas link will take you to the first session held in October, 2011.  There is a new series which began March 6th but I missed the first two.  Now that I have the correct time figured out I hope to join in the rest of the segments.  So based on the first session I chose to study the composition of John Singer Sargent's, "The Spanish Dancer", with the reference provided by johnsingersargent.org.  Instead of posting a photo of the painting here, simply click the name of the painting and open it in a new browser window if you want to view it. 

I felt that the composition was a strong "L-shape" with a circular movement.  I posted this at Wet Canvas and am hoping Larry pops in and shares his view of the composition.  There are strong diagonals with the line of her dress, the angle of her extended arm.  The extended arm, with its underlying darks, helps to give balance to the leaning figure. 

Next I did an ink sketch of just the darks then a value study in graphite.  In the value study, her face needs to be shaded lightly as the white of her dress is the lightest light.  I've found this exercise to be an eye opener for me and plan to do more using the Old Masters works as well as current Masters and studying my own paintings.  Hopefully this will lead to better planning and understanding of how to create a memorable painting.  . 

Fancy Dancer Drawing Incomplete

This graphite drawing of a Cherokee Fancy Dancer was started today as practice for a painting.   Yes, it is the same Fancy Dancer I've been trying to sketch for quite a long while.  The eyes in the reference photo I am using isn't very clear, so I am more or less winging it.  I need more practice drawing eyes.  Also, the darks of his hair and the paint is almost as dark as the paint on his right cheek but was washed out because of the lighting. 

Yesterday, I completed the sketch for the YOP self-portrait painting that is due the 20th.  Now to get it transferred and painted. 

Pears Study

I've been studying a split primary palette and used the following colors: 

Warm -
DS Naples Yellow
M. Graham Cobalt Blue
Cad. Red Lt. (not sure of mfg.)

Cool -
Holbein Naples Yellow
DS Phthalo Blue (red shade)
Perm. Aliz. Crimson

This was an experiment using the semi-transparent Naples yellow.  The Daniel Smith Naples has more red in it while the Holbein Naples is a truer yellow.  Under warm lighting, the yellows and the reds in these pears have a lovely glow.  

I have a lot to learn about painting shadows, water ratio and getting smoother edges.  Guess my age is finally coming into play with the shaky hands.  I tried to use warm light with cool shadows with some warm thrown in to the shadows.  It is all good practice and will keep on trying to get a look I'm pleased with. 

Self-Portrait Sketch

This is my first sketch of the morning, using an "F" graphite pencil.  Our YOP this month is a self-portrait so I'm practicing.  My apologies for the grainy photo, it was taken under low light and had to use Photoshop on it to lighten it and change the sepia tones created by the lamps. 

More Color Wheels & Cups

I tried to do a variety of wheels using different primaries and in some added a secondary tube orange and green.  Then I tried to paint my everlasting challenge of painting a rose that resembles a rose, using a cool green/red complement with a warm color thrown in. 

Color Swatches & Wheels

 

 

At paintingfriends.com, we are just beginning to study colors that we currently have collected during our time as painters.  We all own so many different tubes of colors and the only way to get a handle on what colors work best with others is to do color studies, swatches and wheels.  Also, we believe this will help us to break away from the palette we most often use and try different colors that normally sit in the drawer or bin.

I have been to handprint.com to check out their watercolor visual and mixing complements and to danielsmith.com to see their recommended complements, because that is the brand I use most frequently.  One of the things I noticed is that some of the complementary greens are mixed colors (having more than one pigment).  It is also interesting to note which colors are transparent, semi-transparent, opaque, granulating, staining or non-staining and especially important is the pigment lightfastness.   

My personal preference is to use a light fast rating of excellent or LF1 with a preference for transparent colors unless I am painting a landscape.  The earth tones  used are mostly raw sienna, yellow ochre, (opaque or semi-transparent) or quin. gold (transparent) along with burnt sienna, sepia, transparent brown oxide, transparent red oxide, and quin. burnt orange.  I also use cerulean blue a lot to mix greens in landscapes.  There is something about the muted mixture that appeals to me.  

Grapes, YOP 11

 The topic for this month's year of painting was grapes.  As you can see, I didn't go with the sketch but stayed with the reference photo which was provided by Diana Lee from the Wet Canvas Reference Image Library.  The painting is on an 1/8th sheet of Fabriano Aristico Soft Press paper. 

Scooby, Today's Quick Sketch

Scooby Sleeping

Graphite

A quick sketch of Scooby sleeping but then he moved and I lost the body position.Also, need to work more on the shape of his face.  Fun to do though.

From the Archives & Painting Friends is Up & Running

This was done for the Year of Painting back in 2005 where we painted one painting a week.  Can't remember where the reference photo came from but it was adorable. 

I have begun working on the current Year of Painting project of one painting a month.  The YOP painting is due February 20th.  The subject is grapes and it can be a painting or a collage or both. Should be fun to see what the member come up with. 

This last week or two were very busy as work was done behind the scenes at paintingfriends.com, upgrading the forum and adding a new photo library system.  So today we are celebrating that it is now open to its members even though there may be a few kinks to work out.  Come by paintingfriends.com for a visit although it is only open to members and only the portal page can be seen, you may just decide to join us. 

From the Archives & Chatter

What is interesting about this painting beside the textures and colors in the background, is that it is acrylic on canvas which as been glued to a thick plexiglass sheet.  To help protect the plexiglass from shattering, a canvas was also glued on the back.  This was painted several years ago and so far has not warped and hasn't sustained any damage because of the support. Strange as it may seem, I really like this painting as it looks in real life even though it doesn't have 3-dimensional depth.

It has been a very busy time around here since paintingfriends.com (PF) is upgrading its services, adding a photo gallery which will be much enjoyed by the membership.  There is lots of editing/programming going on to make the upgrade compatible with our current site and to give PF a bit different look.  It will take most of this week for that to get finished with the changeover hopefully occurring the first of the next week. 

I'm anxious to get back to sketching and painting after the work for PF is all done.  In the meantime, wish us good luck with the upgrades, will you.

Steer Wrestling Sketch

Another quick pen and ink sketch of Charlene's nephew steer wrestling.  The man's proportions are off yet I still like the strokes of a line here and there.  

Still Life in Oils Update

This painting has now evolved from a brass vase and purple tulips to a glass vase and red tulips.  The reasoning behind this transformation is I did not like the center position of the brass value and felt there was too much space around the subject.  I could have added other objects but decided not to, even in the rework. 

More could be done on this painting like getting better greens and better form on the leaves but am calling this study done.  It was good practice building form/shapes.  Still lots to learn about warm/cool relationships and how they are affected by the lighting of the subject.  This was painted under color corrected fluorescent but that lighting is no where as good as natural daylight for getting truer colors.