My Father's Tie, portrait

"My Father's Tie", Travis, Oil On Canvas. It's currently 24" x 30", but I'm going to re-stretch it to be 22" x 27". Removing some of the bottom & area behind him will strengthen the compostition--The image here has been cropped to reflect that.

I've been getting up at 5:30 or so every morning to paint before getting ready for work. It's a lovely way to start the day, with music and a dark house (except the 3 lights on in the studio trying to pretend it's daylight).

WIP, continued

As I work on this large portrait (24x30), I am learning more about trusting the paint & trusting the values. My mantra is "without light, there is no shadow, and without shadow there is no light."

Next I need to go in & really finish up the face (and put on his glasses!) and tie, before I get too surrounded with that background.

New portrait WIP

Started a new portait this weekend--painting looser than I think I've ever done, and loving it! I feel a freedom here that is fun, and a comfort & mastery of the paint that hasn't been there before.

2 more little paintings from my plein air weekend of freedom! :)

Labor Day Weekend Plein Air!

Time for a plein air weekend! I've done this now & again over Labor Day weekend. Just doing day trips this time. So relaxing after the regime of work during the week! Got rained out for awhile, but still did get 2 small pieces. Heading out again in the morning, hopefully will get to be more productive tomorrow!

My mission this weekend is just to paint sketches, quick. These are small pieces, and were done in about an hour.

I will sleep well tonight!

Dream Studio

I've long dreamed of a studio right here at home--but the basement is too dark & in the winter too cold. A small structure built in the backyard would be really cool; but you'd have to run electricity to it & figure out how to heat it. Yesterday a friend suggested adding a room above my garage, which would be really ideal I think--it would even have north light! I have no idea how it could be accessed from inside the house but probably some clever builder could do it. It's great fun to dream about anyway.

Samantha's Teething Face

This was a new experiment--on watercolor paper, I painted a wash of coffee (several layers), and then did the drawing in graphite. I love the feel of it! It gives a lot of texture & character to the drawing. 

A new chicken

I spent last weekend at a painting workshop & started this piece there. I learned so much, I feel like it will take months to incorporate all the tips and info into my painting! I have 6 pages of notes.
Here's the finished piece, and since this is the third chicken painting I think I can officially call it a series now. I definitely intend to do more.

Portrait Show Opening

I had such a nice time this weekend with my mom & aunt, who drove 2 hours to see me at the "Portraits" show opening at Studio 659 in Whiting, IN. I have 2 pieces in the show, which will be up for the month of March. It was very well attended, & we had a celebratory dinner at Chic-Fil-A afterward! 

 

new portrait in progress

WIP, Mother and child

Hazel, finished!

I put the final touches on her today. I'm very happy with this one, and excited to show it! "Hazel Is Always Twirling" Oil on Canvas, 20 x 24.

Hazel Dancing

I started renting a small area in a studio this month. I go there most mornings. I have been amazed at how quickly the time goes; today I was there for 3 1/2 hours, and really could have stayed all day. Will I ever be able to reach my dream of working full time as an artist? I feel that I am making progress, and getting more proficient with each painting. I'm hoping that I'll sell enough this year to cover the cost of the studio rental at least. I'm looking for commissions for portraits.

Here is where I stopped for today.

New WIP, looser style

I've been wanting the try a looser, more painterly style for awhile, and this portrait just seemed right for it. I have some extra time right now so am trying to get a lot of painting done while I wait for some actual paying work to come in! I'm really enjoying this one; to be honest I didn't know I could paint like this. 

The Red Shawl 2, final

WIP, continued

Slowly developing the details of the shawl. This part is much harder and I paint and then paint over, again and again. It would be easier to make the shawl with only suggestions of the details, but I feel it's important to learn this. 

A lifetime of painting, growing, learning

Working on my portrait today, dreaming of the next one.....there are so many that I want to work on & I have a list going: a man dressed in business attire, an old man in casual clothes, a young woman, a little girl. I'm thinking maybe in 10 years I'll have this mastered....or maybe longer....what a great journey though!

Red Shawl 2, WIP continured

After 2 days of painting, here's where she is now. 

How many colors in a face

I hate to have to leave her when she's just starting to emerge from the canvas..... spent all day getting the drawing right, and had about 2 hours to paint before I had to leave to teach for the evening. This is the next in the Red Shawl series.

I look at my palette and I love how many different subtle colors are in a face--I have 9 mixed colors & of course use blends of them to create more on the fly. Yet we look at a face and never imagine how much is going on there to make it look right.

Sheep May Safely Graze

Church this morning is at my easel, with Josh Groban and the bright morning sunshine. "Sheep May Safely Graze."

The Red Shawl

The first in a series.

The Red Shawl, WIP

This is the new piece I'm working on-- a large portrait of a young woman with a red scarf over her head. I've learned so much about portrait painting over the last year, this one is going faster & easier as I make less mistakes! It still has a long way to go. I need to warm up her skin tones & there are still a few rendering tweaks that need to be made.