My Most Valuable Paintings

A few months ago I was looking for a photo on my computer and I came across a series of snapshots that I had taken of my two kids about 5 years ago.  The room they are sitting in was towards the front of our little house, bathed in morning light that was creating a striped pattern on the wall.

Both kids were engrossed in their personal activities.  Ari was writing in her notebook, a habit that continues to require a NEW NOTEBOOK EVERY TIME WE GO TO THE DOLLAR STORE.  I keep thinking that there is NO WAY the child could use another notebook, but occasionally I attempt to find the floor of her room, and as I organize her numerous notes, I see that she, indeed, uses every single one...dozens of to-do lists and planning and yarn types and shopping lists and weekend activity plans.  It's not exactly snooping...but it does give me a delightful peek into her motivated 11 year old mind!

(detail of the new painting...forgive the wet paint glare!)

Jack was at his usual spot, the head of the table, Master of The Coffee Table Domain.  Various creatures of all shapes, colors, sizes (and expressions!) were at his every command.  Sound effects poured effortlessly from his cheeks, and warriors changed outfits and weapons and tactics moment by moment.

To me...pure heaven.  Not an electronic in sight.  Colors everywhere.  Chaotic bliss.  Relaxed...everyone getting to Be Themselves.

I started the painting, my heart beating with excitement over the patterns and colors that I couldn't wait to translate into paint on canvas!  I also thoroughly enjoy painting my children, as I have many many times before.  Not having them 24/7 is tough.  So.. sitting in my studio, painting their faces, I constantly send them love and good thoughts.  In that way I am always with them.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I really enjoyed Alain de Botton's lecture "Art as Therapy".  Listening to it as I painted this most recent portrait of my children, it really impressed upon me WHY I was so motivated to paint this picture at this time.

Alain de Botton stated (forgive my paraphrasing)

 "If we had a better memory, we wouldn't need art.  We forget stuff.  Particularly, valuable stuff.  A work of Art becomes valuable the more that it captures something significant.  The more fragile the moment is, the more valuable the art is because it's touching on something that otherwise we can't put a finger on"

I LOVED HEARING THIS as I was painting this particular moment!!! It is difficult to put into words the warmth, pride, joy, love, delight that was flowing through me 5 years ago.  And unfortunately the last two years have just been a constant war on me as a mother, so much so that there were times that I questioned if I had done ANYTHING right!  But this moment reminded me that I did A LOT right.  I am a good mom.  I look back at all their pictures now, not with a sense of sadness or  regret, but SO much pride and joy!  I nurtured their individuality, their reading skills, their creativity, their sense of adventure, their HUMOR...I really could not be prouder of my two awesome kids.

THIS is why Art can be so important!  Time heals a lot of things, but can also distance you from some of the good stuff from long ago as well.  Difficult times, hard feelings, can cloud our perspectives... and memories - especially good ones - can get lost in the shuffle.

So, according to de Botton, what DOES Art do for us?

There are three key things...

1.  Art compensates for the fact that we have really bad memories.  (99% of my commission work has been created to commemorate good times and good people...so vital to immortalize!)

(Portrait of Ari about aged 5, holding a baby bird)

2.  Art Gives Us Hope.  (For me, this means that you honor good moments to inspire even more! I don't paint something beautiful thinking it's going to be the LAST good moment...I paint out of the delight for every beautiful moment that's going to inspire me next!  What's more hopeful than appreciating beauty all around?)

(Jack, aged 11, at a festival in Downtown Atlanta)

3.  Art re-balances us.  Art connects us with the missing bit of us.  Art opens our eyes to the neglected value of the every-day.  (oh my goodness those three points hit me hard!!! Painting re-balances me in ways that I'll need 11 blog posts to explain.  It's my therapy!  This particular painting really reminded me of GOOD times I spent with my kids.  It balanced my perspective at a time I needed it most.  And this painting was connecting me with my son..we have very little time together, and just sending the good vibes and love to him during the process has helped me fill the hole in my heart.  And this precious moment was VALUED by me so much!  I've never been a really big "pose perfectly with your hair brushed and clothes perfect" kind of mom.  I thrive on capturing my kids as They Are...and this every-day moment has more value than any perfectly crafted pose)

(Ari reading, around age 2)

It has always been my greatest pleasure to paint portraits and commissioned work that captures so much of the points above.   I am so appreciative of Alain de Botton's lecture which helped me put those feelings into words!

Portrait Society of Atlanta - Spring 2014 Juried Exhibition of Members

I am very honored and excited that two of my portrait painting were juried by Rose Frantzen into the Spring 2014 Portrait Society of Atlanta Juried Exhibition of Members.   The exhibition opens Friday, August 22nd at Roswell Visual Arts Center.

A Portrait of an Italian Gentleman

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The Story of Chef Anna

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A Sneak Peek at the Paintings inspried by the 2013 Storyteller Experience

I don't think I have ever been as inspired as I am right now to create a group of paintings!  I returned from Italy filled with joy, excitement, appreciation, and about 1500 photos all deserving of being translated into Paint.

So my idea for the first round of paintings is to try and capture 6 of the people who made the trip so special for our group.  There was Anna, the fabulous chef who cooked for us every day at the Casale...

(detail of Anna at the sink)

And Giacomo, the DaVinci Wine ambassador who answered every question, and shared so much of his knowledge of wine with our group.  His fabulous smile and warm spirit was so wonderful!

(detail)

One of the growers, who lives on a plot of land that can only be described as Heaven on Earth

(detail)

(detail)

And the hands of the gardener who taught us how to harvest, and also everything that needs to be considered with every cut, every trim.  I just noticed all the men are wearing blue shirts...

Two more paintings to get started this week - probably another one of the fabulous growers, and one of the vintners of DaVinci.  I'll keep you posted!

The final paintings will be revealed by the DaVinci wine company in November.  In the meantime, I hope you come by and visit the studio in November and see them in person!  

Friday Night Live

November 1st 6-9 PM

Woodstock Art and Wine Festival

12-5 Saturday November 2nd

1-5 Sunday November 3rd

Art Mob Studio Tour

Friday November 15th 6-9 PM

Saturday November 16th 12-5

Sunday November 17th 12-5

Painting with Casey Baugh

Last week was the third week that I got to watch and learn from modern master Casey Baugh.  And I am still learning from this man!  He did some awesome demos, showing off some new techniques, and even using different brushes than the last time we worked together.  I posted some of the highlights on my Studio 81 Facebook Page.

So here are a few of the paintings I did in between adjusting spotlights, fetching fabric, filling jars of thinner, changing radio stations, stocking water bottles, and helping out in any way I could :)

I'm most pleased with the top two - I actually really enjoyed the back view on top.  She held the pose beautifully, including the draped hands, and the light on her shoulder was very subtle. The palette in the second one was minimal, and therefor the focus was easily kept on her face.  The bottom two are a little too saturated, and forced.  I don't think I was relaxed!!! But good practice none the less :)  I'm already looking forward to Casey's next class in June 2014.

Portrait of a Redhead

I'm not going to lie to you.  This painting was painful.  I started pretty enthusiastically - I mean what's not to get excited about?  A beautiful picture with great lighting of a pretty girl wearing my FAVORITE color (purple BTW) and I get to PAINT it.  Nothing wrong with that!

So I started out by working from the photo in black and white - there was so much fun color to play with I felt I needed to just look at the light and get all the proportions and composition right.

I am working on oil primed cotton (for those of you keeping track!) First wash has blues and blacks with thinner.

I had a break in between painting sessions so the black was nice and dry when I went back and blocked in some local color.  

I blocked in the darkest darks - not really trying to get the right chroma, but the correct value.  

As I worked, the areas I addressed became smaller - face, shoulder, etc.

Continued to work into the details, such as the hands and the jewelry.  While I was happy with it overall, I never really thought the length of the neck was right, and I kept going back and forth with her jawline.  

At this point I almost called it "finished" - but the look on her face wasn't quite right.  She was more pensive in the source photo, and here she looked angry.

I was very happy with the hands and the purple shirt.

But the face was just not quite right yet.

So I scraped off the face and started working on it again.  For about 12 hours.  Paint was completely scraped off several times.  I was hitting a wall, I couldn't "see" the issues anymore, there was no progress being made (this is where you feel sorry for me...go on!)

Finally, I was getting closer.  The nose is actually now where the eye on the right used to be.  The jaw is slightly turned up, tilting her head a little.  I softened the eye on the left.

I adjusted the edge of her cheekbone too many times to think about.  Finally, it was much much better.

The adjustments to her head ended up pushing the composition a little closer to the top of the page than I had originally intended, but I think it still works.  

I am grateful to have the opportunity to work on so many portraits in a row lately.  Although I never feel like I have enough time in the studio, as I look at a group of paintings I can really see where my strengths and weaknesses lie.  I'm enjoying one amazing journey in front of my easel!

Drawings and Paintings from the Live Model

I will say this again, because I believe it to be true, and vital to your success as an artist:  draw and paint from the live model as much as possible.  Yes, you can learn a lot from copying master works and photos as well. But from the live model, you can chose so much more - what to leave in, what to leave out, what to emphasize, what to soften.  As you perfect those skills from the live model, you can take that knowledge to a photograph - because an Artist should not just strive to copy from a photo, but should always be trying to lead the viewer to a new point of understanding.

Male nude, oil painting on oil primed linen, about 90 minutes

Crouching male nude, oil on oil primed canvas, about 90 minutes.  I was trying to avoid creating any hard edges.  This pose was particularly difficult for the model, the balance that was needed, and so I could not lock any element into place - he was always making minor shifts (and I say that with great respect for this model - who can hold almost any pose!   See the next drawing...) But as you draw and paint from the live model, you learn to be flexible, because it WILL change over time - the model breathes, takes breaks, shifts weight - even the lighting may change.  You have to always be open to change.

So...this is our interpretation of the "Flashdance" pose...all we needed to do was splash a bucket of water onto our model as he struggled to breathe for 25 minutes....

I'll post this one just as a teaser - I do have some progress shots and I fixed the dark spot by her chin.  But this was how far I got in about 115 minutes.  Oil painting on oil primed linen

I think this was about 90 minutes.  I loved her earrings, and tried to leave the earring on our right behind - drawing the negative space around it - instead of outlining the shape.  Charcoal.

Charcoal sketch, about 25 minutes.  

Oil Painting Portrait on Panel, The Woman with Dreads

A couple weeks ago our figure drawing group was working with one of our fabulous models, who has multiple tattoos and a head full of dreadlocks, ribbons and beads.  She posed for a couple portrait shots for me.

I worked on a panel that had already seen a couple of failed paintings, and got a fresh coat of oil primer.  When I primed it, I didn't worry about going all the way to the edges - I let a little bit of the previous layers hang around.

This is the "alien" stage...just a quick indication of the size of the head and starting to mass in shadows.

Blocked in some large areas of color.  I wanted the first few layers to be a bit more bold - I know I can always tone down the color, so I intentionally chose a more saturated orange

Considered the background, started playing around with blues and greens.  Very little detail in the eyes. Mostly shadows.

A few indications of the dreads on the rights

I like this stage, where there are transparent and opaque layers of paint.  Also, working on an oil primed panel, I can still wipe away a lot of paint

Getting a little closer to the skin tone, deeper shadows in the hair.  The shadows and light across her forehead were difficult.  I had to rework the area several times.

Deciding on a background color, and blocking in the rest of her shoulders.  I am using just oil paint and a touch of thinner, no other medium.  Rosemarie brushes all the way.

More interest added to the dreads, including some of the blue ribbon she has woven through her hair. I also toned down the highlights above her eyebrows, focusing more on the highlight on top of her forehead.  Three highlights was too distracting

(20" x 16")

Portrait Painting Step by Step

I know!  Two posts in two days?!?! Crazy!

This is a recent oil portrait on acrylic primed canvas (I only mention the acrylic primed because I am trying to pay a lot more attention to my surfaces...trying new types of canvas and seeing what works best for me).  I think the size is 16" x 20".  The young man in the photo was walking into a restaurant near my studio just as I was leaving.  Much to my husband's delight I walked up to the young man and asked if he'd be interesting in modeling for a portrait sometime.  Well, he was incredibly nice, and turns out he is a very talented musician as well.  (I also took several shots of him playing his guitar - I loved his relaxed stance as he started to sing)

Anyway...this shot was great - taken against the antique stone wall in my studio, just out of the light from the window.

I started by blocking in the large shapes - no under painting really - just right in with a close approximation of value and color.

A little more pushing and pulling on the edges - does the hair have to move to the left? does the chin tilt down more?  Big shapes and relationships...no detail.

Starting to define the end of the nose, the eye (keeping all of the details in the shadows - the eye should not pop out of the socket) and the mouth

Considered the background more at this stage - deepened the shadows, added more color to the shirt.  I wanted to be sure the value of my skin tone was correct in the context.

Finished blocking in the background, re-evaluated the highlights on the face, started to define the dreadlocks

To be continued...final product coming soon :)