The Queen

Here's the Queen.  I painted her again for one of my classes.  Each time I paint her she looks a little better.  The photo is a little dark as I don't have that much sun.  I cannot wait to get a new camera.

I took another workshop with Suzanna Winton down at Art of the Carolinas.  I think she is a great teacher.  She has really been able to clarify the process she goes through when painting watercolor portraits.  I am anxious to be able to study with her again.

The Queen

My latest portrait The Queen.  This is the second time that I have painted her.  I really feel that I have come a long way in my choice of colors for the skin tones.  Using transparent colors really allows you to see through the different colors in the skin.  When you look at someones skin you can almost see through it. 

I have recently taken a little break from painting portraits and I have been painting some less intense paintings.  I will show you some of them soon.  It has been alot of fun just painting for the fun of it!  But I need to start putting some energy into one or two large paintings for the upcoming shows.  I hope return soon. 

Whitney Houston

I painted Whitney Houston because she was a very beautiful and talented woman. I know she will be missed by her family and friends as well as her fans.

I went through two different phases in this painting. The first phase was when I was painting her face. I really feel that I "got to know her" in a way that I certainly never have before. I really enjoyed the process of capturing her spirit. I am very satisfied with the results especially her eyes and the tilts at the sides of her mouth.

Then I went into phase two, her hair. It absoulutely drove me crazy! The curls and the highlights really challenged me to the max. I'm not totally satisfied with the results but I think it came to a natural state of being. I am glad of that as I don't think I could put another drop of paint on her hair.

I'm almost done with another portrait and will be posting it soon.

A Country Boy

Here's my latest portrait. A Country Boy. He was so much fun to paint. I just loved his smiling face and eyes and painting his hat and clothes. I also enjoyed his character.

He is so different than most of the people I normally interact with but I think that I visited his world while paiting him.

I am really enjoying painting portraits. They are taking me about two weeks to complete which is a bit faster than they used to take me and I can see that they are getting better. What do I tell my students all the time? Practice practice practice!

I really must apologize that it's been so long since my last post. I really have been busy and it will continue right through to the summer. I just keep thinking that if I got myself organized that I would have more time but somehow it's not working that way for me these days!

Allisha

Here's my latest portrait. I really loved painting her. For the first time I started to play with the colors for the skin tones on my own. (As opposed to the way a specific teacher has taught me.) I began experimenting with the quinacridone colors but I didn't stick with them. In the early stages of the painting I added the brown tones on the neck and I didn't like the look of them. Then I mixed quinacridone magenta with burnt sienna for her lips and I found it made a great mix for the darker shades of the face.
It was a great learning experience as far as finding colors that work and colors that don't. I do not have a formula for mixing skin tones yet but hopefully some day I will.

I am so glad that I started the portrait painting group. It really gives me a time that I can concentrate on painting portraits. I'm always working on paintings for art shows as well as projects for the five classes that I am currently teaching that it's hard to find the time to paint portraits. I think now that I have the group I will focus on painting them more often. I've recently started a portrait that the subject is a little different for me. I sure hope it comes out good.

Untitled

I should name this woman Irene because I started painting her last Saturday during the hurricane. But she does not look like an Irene. So if you have any names for her just let me know as she cannot remain nameless for too long! Robyn had been painting her and she so kindly gave me a picture that I could paint her too. Thanks Robyn!

Painting the scarf was so much fun. I used gesso under the paint to get some of the texture. I really enjoyed all the colors, folds, directions, values, intensities and movement of it.

I'm getting ready for two important things right now. Work wise it's September and I need to plan new classes and get back into teaching mode. I'm going to be teaching six to seven classes a week. Then fun wise my daughter Kim from California is coming for a two week visit to the East Coast. It will be so nice to get to spend time with her and her beau Bryant. I can hardly wait.

Ricco

Here is my latest portrait painting of Ricco. It really took a long time to complete and it was a struggle all the way. I'm not that satisfied with the painting but I must confess that it was a true learning experience. And I should be satisfied with that, right? I am but I would have liked it more if I could have captured his skin tones a little better, or had his eyes come out a little more realistic. I must say that I do love the bricks! They were so much fun to paint, no struggle at all!

Well now I need to move on to doing some paintings for the upcoming spring shows. They are right around the corner. I can't believe how much I need to accomplish by then. I will hopefully get most of it done in time. And the rest, oh well....

Just wanted to mention that I have updated my Art Shows and my Gallery so check them out.

Katherine

I finished this portrait after going to Suzanna Winton's workshop at Nancy Couik's studio in Raleigh NC. It is of her niece Katherine. She is a great teacher as well as a very nice person. She really has developed a very good teaching method of her way of painting portraits.

When I first came home from the workshop my brain was on overload. I took in so much information in such a short time that I could not even think about it. I was a little frustrated with myself for not being able to produce anything that I considered to be successful and was a little concerned about not having really absorbed anything. But then I started to paint and I felt like the floodgates opened and I was able to experience painting portraits on a whole new level. At times when I was painting I felt like I was in the "zone". It's that place that my painting comes without the interference of thought. I am satisfied with the painting and the process of creating it. Not that I think its the greatest painting I've ever done but I really feel that I have taken a step in the right direction. And I only have to continue on the same path and hopefully my portraits will continue to grow.

Portrait from Suzanna Winton's Workshop

Here is the portrait that I worked on in my class with Suzanna Winton. I took a worshop with her at the Art of the Carolinas a couple weeks ago. She is a wonderful artist and a great teacher.

Yesterday I posted a photo of the painting that was way too pink. I took it again today and I think the colors are a little better. I'm certainly not 100% satisfied with the results but it was so much fun to paint and I did learn so much along the way.

I found myself seeing values on a new level. I took my glasses off and I could really see the shapes and darkness of the skin tones. I wonder if that is like squinting? I saw the larger shapes of dark values as well as the smaller differentiations in value changes within the larger shapes.

I also worked on softening edges and blending the colors from darker to lighter. And I had so much fun doing the background with little circular and squiggly shapes.

I'm going to keep working on painting portraits. I really enjoy capturing the looks as well as the spirit of the person I am painting. I feel that I have a sensitivity to people that I can use to express their personalities and try and capture their essence.

Also a while ago I heard or read that painting portraits is similar to painting flowers by capturing the curves and value changes that represent the soft changes that they both have. I think it is true. I am certainly more comfortable with painting flowers than portraits but am ready to step outside of my comfort zone and work on something more challenging. Maybe that is why I feel I am ready to start working on my portraits again!

The next portrait that I work on I will post it in stages so that you can see the process.

Marion's Dad

Here's Marion's Dad. He is almost finished. I say almost because I want to add a little more color to his hair on the right side and I want to blend his right cheek a little bit more. But otherwise he is complete.

I have continued to add more shadows to his face, neck, hair and shirt as well as more details. I lifted the highlights of his eyes.


I am pleased with him. I think I have captured the essence of him from his photo. He really has agreat deal of character to his face and is in a very pensive moment. I never met Marion's Dad but I feel that I really like him.

I hope that you have enjoyed me taking you through painting this portrait step by step. Let me know if it is something that you would like me to do again in the future.

Marion's Dad 3

This is phase three of Marion's Dad and as you can see he is starting to emerge through the layers of paint. I've added more glazes of color to his face and neck and you can still see the transparency of the skin tones. I've started to work in a little more detail by putting in some darker darks to define the features. I have started to add more value differentially to the strands of hair and made the top of his head has warm tones and the side has cool tones.

When painting a portrait I experience an intimacy with the person I am painting. I feel as if I get to know every little curve and shadow as well as all the little details of their face. Then there is the sense of the entire face coming together to present the special feeling and character that the person emits. I feel as if I've gotten to know the person even if I never met them.

The next post will show you the competed painting of Marion's Dad. I hope you are enjoying these work in progress entries.

Marion's Dad 2

Here is the next phase of the painting of Marion's Dad. As you can see I've added more layers of different colors. After applying the yellows I start applying the reds. I also put in some purple colors mostly on the right side of his face and his shirt. I also stated to put more details in his hair.

I think he is coming along at this point. The skin is starting to get the look of transparency which I feel resembles real skin. This is basically why I have found that I like glazing colors to get the skin tones as apposed to painting in flesh tones. The scary part is that the eyes have not been done yet but they will start appearing in the next phase of this painting.

I have really enjoyed painting Marion's father. He has a great face and I love his eyebrows and hair. I can't wait to show you the next phase of this painting.

Work in Progress

This is the first phase of the latest portrait that I am working on. He is the father of Marion. She was kind enough to lend me his photo to paint him by.

There are certain things that I look for in a photo to copy for a portrait. First of all I like a face that shows character and/or there is a special "feeling" about the facial expression. I look for a clear photo that shows the features well enough to copy for an accurate depiction of the individual. I also want to see highlights and shadows a gradations of value in between. This photo of Marion's dad had all of them.

I started by drawing the face, features and shirt. I copied the outline and then worked more free hand for the features. Then I added the first layers of paint. I started with aureolin yellow and cadmium yellow. I painted around the highlighted areas. Then I added more paint in the darker areas.

I feel that I started to capture Marion's Dad right from these beginning phases. It is a good feeling when that happens. Sometimes it takes a while longer to start seeing the look of the person. (And sometimes it never happens at all.)

Thank you Kim for requesting that I post the work in progress of a portrait. I will continue to post my development of Marion's Dad. Let me know if there are any other things you would like to see posted. It's always helpful to get your feedback.

Sirrico

Here's my latest portrait. This is the second time I painted Sirrico and I probably will paint him again. I am pleased with him and can see my improvement from portrait to portrait. But I am not 100% satisfied with him. Sound familiar?

Sirrico is a very nice young man and I met him when he was working with children at the Kempsville Recreation Center. He also is involved with music and writes children's books. He was the first person that I approached to photo for a painting and he was very kind about doing so.

I have been studying with Rieneke Leenders and concentrating on painting portraits. She paints magnificent portraits in watercolor and oils. Check out her website at http://www.rieneke.com/.

She has taught me a great deal about glazing colors. In this portrait I put down yellows, then reds then blues and browns mixed together. The yellows and reds shine thought the skin and gives it great tones. The problem that I had with this portrait is that I put so many layers down that the paint was just sitting on the surface and it was difficult to continue to work on and to touch up. In the future I need to try using 300 lb. paper which will hold more paint and/or using less layers by putting down more color for each layer.

I must apologize for not posting as frequently as in the past. I have been keeping very busy and am feeling a little stressed about not having enough time to do everything I want to do. Hope to visit with you again soon!!!

Cecelia

Here is my latest portrait of Cecelia, the littlest artist. She is the granddaughter of one of my students. She is adorable!

She was so much fun to paint. My biggest concern was keeping her skin light enough while putting down many glazes of paint. The layers of paint are what help me to sculpt the shape of the face as well as develop the color of the skin. Yellows, reds and oranges for the warm colors and blues and purples for the cool colors. The skin and the hair are very close in color and one color just blends right into the other. Sculpting the face consists of placing the darks where you want them to recede and and softening the edges so the lighter areas can move forward. I am pleased with the result.

Queen Elizabeth

In my watercolor class with Rieneke Leenders, we painted Queen Elizabeth. It was a great deal of fun.

It is always a challenge painting portraits. Each time I paint one I learn a little bit more about what I'm doing and after it is complete I can look at it and see what I might have done differently for it to come out a little bit better.

I look back over the past year and think about the past portraits I have done and the challenges have changed. There are certain things that came more easily for me. Like leaving the highlights. And others that are more difficult like softening edges and how thick to put the color down. This is part of the learning process that fascinates me.

Overall I am pleased with the Queen. Her hat and suit were so much fun to recreate, but her jewelry was challenging. I painted her a little softer than she looked in the photo. I felt very close to her but cannot even imagine what her life is really like. I wonder if she is softer in her personal life or if she is always the "Queen"?

I want to thank all of you for continuing to follow my blog even with all of the computer problems I have been experiencing. I want to remind everyone about the drawing that I am doing at the end of the month. Read about it in the top right section of my blog.

Sisters

I just finished my painting of my daughters Kristin and Kim. They were such beautiful subjects and I'm afraid I did not do them justice. I have been working on them for a couple of months on and off. And voila I am done.
This is the fifth portrait that I have painted in watercolors. I feel that I am making progress, but I'm not all the way there yet. I feel that if each painting is better than the previous one then I'm going in the right direction.
When painting a portrait I become very intimate with the subjects features. When painting my daughters I already felt intimate with the way they look. But there are challenges to painting people that you know that you do not experience with strangers. You want to capture the essence of the person not only in terms of how they look, but also in terms of how they are. And you truly know how they are.
And when you love your subjects as much as I love my daughters then you put that love into the process of painting and it carries you through the process of creation. Then you only hope that the love shows in the painting. It is a big challenge. But with big challenges come great satisfaction.

Learning-Portraits

This past year I have been focusing on learning to paint and draw portraits. Like many other artists, I feel that portraits are very difficult to master. I don't know exactly why that is. Is it because we are intimidated in painting and drawing images of ourselves? In my learning philosophy I believe that when you are working on a subject you need to really look and really see it. You concentrate on the shapes, values, colors and relationships to surrounding objects and then you should be able to duplicate it. Sounds simple doesn't it? But the face has so many curves and soft edges. It has subtle color changes and reflected light. No wonder it is so difficult!

I currently study drawing in a semi-private class with Jack Whitlow at D'Art center in Norfolk, VA. (His work is magnificent, just look at his blog.) We are working on a portrait of Jodie Foster dressed in costume from the movie Sommersby. When Jack brought in the picture I felt so inspired by it. I had been in a slump with my drawing before that but immediately I was out of it.


While working on the drawing I started to feel a familiarity with the shapes and curves of her face. It was as if I was sculpting her features in clay. I knew where her face came forward and how it went around to the back. It felt so three dimensional to me on a two dimensional piece of bristol. It was amazing.

I also am studying watercolor and working on portraits with Rieneke Leenders. She is a great artist and does wonderful work in watercolor including exquisite portraits. Just checkout her web site rieneke.com.

The painting of Paul Newman was my forth watercolor portrait. I was inspired by his looks and his life.