a COOL day for WARM shadows

This painting turned into a study of cool vs. warm colors. The light that rested on the model's cheeks and forehead had a very cool, bluish tint to it, so I wanted to play up the warm reds & browns in the shadows. I kept the shadows thin and built up the layers in the lights.

At first I was tempted to just paint a simple portrait (head & shoulders), but I really wanted to do a hand study, so I decided to extend the portrait down a bit. This posed a few challenges for me because I couldn't find any areas of interest with how the background was set up. So I decided to improvise a bit. In the end, I was happy with the lost and found edges, especially where her shirt fades into the background.

Wanna get away?

Do you remember those old Southwest commercials? My favorite was the one at the wedding. As the bride and groom are walking down the isle, suddenly it gets quiet, and you can hear a conversation from the back pew. One person turns to their neighbor and says, "so I told her, it was never going to work out." Everyone turns around, and the commercial ends with "wanna get away?" Today I'd like to get away and escape to this countryside for a little R&R and some plein air painting. The image is a 20 minute thumbnail study using only four colors: Black, White, Ultramarine Blue, and Yellow Ochre.

Casey at the Bat

Meet Casey. He is a fun-loving, Harley Davidson riding, actor, life drawing model, and electrician. Yes, he is the modern Renaissance man sporting a bandanna and snow white beard. He is also one of the most complimentary and sincere people I have had the privilege to know. When he models, it is not out of the ordinary to see him walk around the room during breaks to talk with the artists and give them compliments on their drawings.

I like this painting for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that the painted Casey looks tough, rough, and ragged--which is so opposite the warm, lovable character that he is.

Christ in the Americas

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints holds an Art Contest once every three years. Last year, I painted this to enter into the contest. As I took photos of the model who was portraying the Savior, I asked my daughters to stand by him. My intention was to have them stand there so I could get an idea of the size of the children as they stood next to the Savior. Later, I would hold a second photo shoot with other children to stand in as the models for the painting.

As I reviewed the pictures from the original photo shoot, I noticed that one of my daughters had crossed her toes. I liked the pose so much, that I made her the focal point of the painting, and decided not to find new models for the children. So, I turned my daughter's blond hair to black. She is looking directly at the viewer with her feet on top of one another, and her toes are crossed. As you guessed, the crossed toes are my favorite part of the painting.

Portrait

This started as a painting during a Young Women in Excellence program. As the speaker spoke to the theme of "painting a masterpiece of our lives," I painted this portrait. I didn't finish the painting that evening, but finished a few weeks later. This was my first attempt at a painting of the Savior.

CTA round 2

Just when you think you are finished with a painting...think again.  The client wanted a few changes to the earlier version posted below.  Hopefully the changes are somewhat noticeable.  If not, I just wasted a week painting for nothing. 

I like how this one turned out.  It is a portrait from life that was accomplished while visiting the Watts Atelier last year.  The model had a great hairstyle that added to the personality of the portrait.  He asked for a copy of the drawing, saying that I made him better-looking than he is.  He was really fun to draw.