Practice, Practice, Practice

Working on the head of a human being is to ask myself, "what am I hoping to say".  So often it seems that all that I am saying is that I can paint a human head.  Do I want it to have a likeness or the trade sometimes for me is expressionism or neither?  I find myself in love with expressive brushwork, thick paint application, definitive values and lovely color.  Then I catch myself still trying so hard to be technically correct and in the process lose it all.  I often complete a painting out of the pure exhaustion of just not getting it right and settling.  Then after a while I examine what I learned and often it is that at some point in painting I lose my original focus of expressing what I see.  That is funny in a way.  Holding on to that creative flicker without extinguishing it with a head full of information, is the challenge.  I sometimes just blow to hard and poof, it's gone.  So I practice, practice, practice to let myself go.  

Leslie

This was a one day study.  Cynthia Grilli did a demo of Leslie and then we all dug in and had some fun.

Aware

A couple of weeks ago I started going to Cynthia Grilli's for inspiration and guidance with the figure and the portrait.  It has been a process of decisions.  First I had to remember why I was there.   I want to let go of what has been safe.  Do I need to constantly prove I can draw by doing only what I know?  So I get out of my comfort zone to revitalize and that is a good thing.  I mean what if I push and lay down color, value and temperatures that make me scream out loud.  I can tell you in the process of this painting I let go of a likeness and fought with emotional attachments to explore palette knife textures and scraping with those rubber carving tools.   I laid down thick yellows and found every part of me tingling with fear and excitement.  My whole body felt alive and I was sort of lost and did not care...maybe a little.  I am going to stick with this and hopefully carry this to my pastels too.  We will see what happens.  All I know is it is time to let go and see what the process will bring.  

Peter

Painting days are always rewarding.  Today I spent the day working on the head.  The morning was working with my Asaro head.  It is a plastic head that shows all the planes. It makes it easier to see how the light is carried over the surface of the skull.  

In the afternoon I had a model who is my dear friend Mary's grandson, Peter.  He was a good sport and sat for a few hours.  I got out my pastels and started working.  I was happy to capture him.

12x9, pastel on Pastelmat

SOLD

Hot Pink

8x6, oil, $90.00

An afternoon with the model is always better than an afternoon with fruit.

Mixing

10x8, oil

Today was a model day, which I spent most of my time mixing colors.  Seeing changes in flesh tones can be a very difficult challenge.

Studies

12x12 oil studies of Jake

Quicker

12x12, oil, sold

This is Quicker, a lively, but camera shy pooch.  He is the loyal friend of a dear friend of mine.  Still working on him.  Think I am down to a few strokes. 

Onto chicken painting for DPW.  That will be a first for me. 

Lovely Girl

8x10, oil, $100.00

It is not often that pretty is important in painting, but she is very pretty and capturing her beauty was the challenge.  Just a "Lovely Girl".

JAKE

6x6, oil

This was a quickie at the end of the model session on Monday.  I totally loved just putting down the paint.  My thing for the day was mixing shadow colors and revisiting values.  A day is just not enough.  Just about the time I start discovering, the day is over.  

FRENCH WITH A LATIN TWIST

6x6, oil, $85.00

by Dori Dewberry

There is nothing like the strength of the male bone structure.  So angular and beautiful.  Wonderful planes of light and shadow.  I enjoyed playing in the warmth of the shadows and laying in the light on the upper back.  He twisted his hair up so that some of the painters could see his back.  At some point in the day we asked about his background.  He told us he was French with a little bit of Latin.  So that is how the title came to me.

I enjoy painting from life so very much, that the idea of painting from photos just bores me.  At the same time I realize it is necessary.  There is such a meditative state that calms my body like nothing else can.

OH DENISE

6x6, oil, sold

Denise is such a beautiful model.  She possesses a deep beauty that come across in her words and thought filled poses.  Her outer beauty is lovely with her red tones in her skin and the reds of her hair.  She is so accommodating in that she brings a wardrobe with her for us to choose what she will ware for the long pose.  She put this red coat on and it was amazing.  We set this wonderful setting with a tea pot and created a story, actually many to set the mood.  I was just taken in by this pose of her head and enjoyed every minute of painting her.

MARK MARKING

6x6, pastel

Exploring my pastel box is fun and frustrating.  I have lots of pastels in the process of organization.  When I work in pastels I get very comfortable with what each pigment does.  Like a rhythm of touch and vision.  At the moment I am searching and overworking in the process of exploration.  I am making lots of marks to convey what I want to say.  Conserving and simplification comes with work and practice.

"AN ANNIVERSARY"

 

sold

This was the idea of my brother in law as a gift for my sister.  They will be celebrating 39 years of marriage this month, with a lovely family of 3 children and 5 grandchildren.  This painting was a challenge and a great learning experience.  

Hppy Anniversary!

Mother and Child in progress 8x8 oil

This started as a painting of my niece and her new baby, but I lost her along the way and need to do it again for more of a likeness.  In the meantime I like the painting and will just settle for the title "Mother and Child"

Kevin Day Two 16x20 oil

Day 2 with Kevin.  Building up the lights and darkening the shadows.  Working with color.

Wes 12X12 oil

What Lies Beneath 16x22 Charcoal

Yesterdays class project was to draw the skeleton sides by side with the model. We worked back and forth so to start understanding what lies beneath as we drew and looked for planes and values. It was a great exercise and the class results was amazing to see. It is a serious class of students which sets the bar. I love this class and am grateful to have a day to work at something I love to do.

My Brother Rick 22x16 charcoal

This is my brother Rick who was very kind to sit for me to practice portraiture. It is a nice feeling to study a face I have known for so long. I have watched the changes that map his life that he wears on his face. It was fun to study a face I thought I knew very well and find little things in the way his features are different then mine. I am the youngest of four. None of us look alike and I can say that I thought I was adopted when I was a kid. That was a fun fantasy, but I'm not, nor would I want to be. I like who we are, a family. We just are all parts of the parents we shared, but I swear we all got very different parts. Some kids share a likeness and some don't. We definitely are the later.

Drawing a face is a soulful experience for me, a real gift. In every angle, line, crease and shadow are many stories. A photo taken often hides truth and that is okay because often that is what we want. It is quick, a flash and all the work and practice to take a nice photo is over in, well , a flash. It is different when you sit for a portrait drawing or painting. A twenty minute sitting can take you away with many thoughts that take you far far away from the idea of a pretty picture.

I sat for a drawing session last week and felt everything about me settle and relax so that my mind could travel away. I was surprised to see what others drew. They saw the things I often hide. Not able to hold my chin up and jaw forward exposed time or the passing of time. My life seen through someone else's eyes. I love the process. I feel I must make a connection from my eyes, to my muscles in my hand, to the one that is sitting there so exposed.

So thanks Rick.

Portrait and Figure Studies in Charcoal

I have been taking a Life Drawing class at Saddleback College with Cynthia Grilli this semester. We work in vine charcoal which is a very movable medium. Working with a chamois, kneaded eraser, stump and whatever else we can to push and pull the charcoal. I'm actually enjoying it and love the subtractive qualities of charcoal the best. It is very forgiving. For the most part I am working on values. I am a bit shy when it comes to pulling values in strong contrast and yet am totally attacked to that quality in artwork. So these are a few of the things I have been working on inside and outside of class. Some complete and some just at a structural start.

I am finding that I want to draw all the time. I am hoping to relate this to my painting. I have to do a self portrait for the final... Now that is another story.

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