New Portrait Process
To say I am enjoying making this painting is a huge understatement... It is so much fun.
In portraiture, faces with some time on them are so much easier to capture than those smooth faced young-uns. Wrinkles and texture create character ( so we tell ourselves :) - and they definitely create landmarks that make the drawing easier.
In this case I used a new technique from a class I was taking ( thank you @steveforsterart!). Instead of the simple brown underpainting I usually do, I did a detailed charcoal drawing underneath and then layered oil on top of it. Since I have always loved charcoal drawing, but can't resist the drama of color and brushstrokes, it's a perfect "combo" method to now have in my toolkit.
Projects like this are what classes are for - to try new things, test your boundaries - and in this case, find a new favorite process to explore.
Getting Better
We all tell everyone else that it's ok to fail, you are learning.."fail up", "it's the process"... So true right? And so hard to accept as you shoehorn your personal learning time into a weekend or couple of hours at night, in between kid care, work, exercise, house care etc... You (or at least I) want to have something "worthy" to show for it.
That desire for "good" results doesn't square with learning new things. Learning is messy, time consuming and uncomfortable. So we(I) have to accept that hours and hours may not result in a pretty painting. But I know that it will ultimately make me better.
So - to support the idea of sharing the entire process of art, I thought I'd show you where I've been the last few weeks(not posting obviously :)... I've been taking classes and getting better at portraiture while wading through many humbling & aha moments(thank you @steveforster). It's been a clear case of "once you learn more, you learn how much you need to learn"... Exhausting! And truly exhilarating...
My ego won't currently allow me to show the unsuccessful attempts without being able to share a somewhat triumphant "I got it"... This portrait was completed over three weeks, with many obsessive scrape offs & corrections and expert feedback. I learned about patience, losing shapes to find them again, edge control, glazing and correcting... And I am not fully done - but it's time to stop, at least for now..
Painting Practice
Not every painting we create will make us smile. Many we want to throw way half way through, or just after we complete them( or “call a truce”, however you see it)…. Many we feel very proud of in the moment, only to return to them months/years later and cringe at the artist we once were. But we learn from all of them - and often the looks back reward us with unexpected treasures. Today’s work is not making me smile right now - but parts are. I like the little detail images way more than the painting as a whole. And I like the painterly-ness of it…. And I like that I made time to learn some more today.
Going Digital - Portrait of Dad
After drawing horses my entire elementary school career, I graduated to "serious" artist" when I discovered portraiture at age 14. I think Bill Murray was my first subject - why I chose him, I have no idea. I guess he was just so popular back in the 80's it was easy to find a good photo to work from. Anyway - the drawing was on a cheap newsprint pad and I used a basic yellow pencil. I remember at one point, 3/4 of the way through, when I realized I'd captured his likeness. It happens in a second. What had been a sketch of some guy who looked like Bill Murray was suddenly... Bill Muray. It felt like magic. Following came portraits of Jim Morrision(I know why I chose him, I was totally obsessed ), Bono, Adam Ant, Prince...later Axl Rose, Motley Crue - all the culture icons of my young world... Since then I've done portraits in charcoal, acrylics, oils, pastels - from photos, from life and all combinations... It never gets old. Now, working with digital painting tools, it's the same process, with new options. Drawing on an ipad you can experiment with various brushstrokes and colors without ruining your work. Fixing drawing mistakes is much less destructive. Undo is your best friend. It is so much fun, and has made me a better all around painter by opening my mind to possibilities. This painting is of my Dad. I'm planning to translate this piece into an "analog" oil painting next. Hard to believe I did portraits of all those random rockers before my own family - but I guess the stakes were lower. I probably won't hear from Axl Rose if his portrait is a bit off ;) In this one my Dad looks all serious - which he rarely does. I'll have to do another that shows his bright smile, or his wonderful " throw your head" back laugh... Ha, my poor family, they'll be asking me to stop drawing them soon!
Experiments in Digital Painting
Digital painting is an amazing way to learn to be a better painter. What you create on your ipad can be the finished product, or you can experiment with textures and layers to bring new ideas to your "analog" paintings. I am pretty obsessed with it. The range of what you can do is endless - which is great, and well, endless. Finding a place to stop iterating is a real challenge. That part I haven't figured out - but it's a fabulous problem to grapple with... These images show an experiment with reducing an image to 3-4 values, and then playing around with various overlays, brush textures and color palettes.
Brisk Walk Uphill
This image is from sketches & photos gathered in November, my absolute favorite month of the year. November is all gnarly, newly bare tree limbs, piles of crispy brown leaves skittering across the road, and sweaters you haven't worn for 7 months or so... I love that vibe of re-discovering my winter favorites and piling them on to saunter through brisk days, thinking about Christmas shopping and baking... Sitting here in mid January, that feeling has evolved... I am filling my online shopping carts with all kinds of new fashion looks, new rugs, chairs and new paint colors. The novelty has worn thin on rediscovering old sweaters, and I way over baked this year - enough cookies!
This dynamic is not new. In my past corporate life(10 years past now!), every year I had a trade show in early February in Las Vegas. Even though I'd been there a million times, in February, Vegas was a beacon of sunshine & newness. I'd always return having read new books on the flights, eaten great food, spent time with friends, and eaten really well. This blissful recollection ignores the stress and drama associated with those trips, the meetings, work politics, weather delays, etc... Were the trips really so enriching or more like big, entertaining distractions - who knows, they were probably both... In any case, here in 2022, I am good enduring February without a flight to Nevada(especially in this Covid time). But the Late January - mid Feb lull is still a thing to be dealt with.
New clothes and/or a new rug always help, but increasingly it's painting that I turn to. Finding new challenges, new problems to solve. Last year I learned to paint digitally, which was amazing, and made me feel like a new, more "up to date" person... This year oil painting is capturing my imagination. It is such a rich, luscious medium, and I am really enchanted with finding my way to work with it.
Back to the painting...This day I chose to paint was so sunny - that clear, haze free sun only cold air allows. On this particular road the golf course keeps its green velvet far into December, and brings an unlikely lushness to the otherwise sharp, dry landscape. I tried to capture that contrast with my brushstrokes, using all sides and angles of my brushes to get the various grasses, rocks and leaves. It was fun slathering on that kermit the frog green in the back left :). It's not a trip to Vegas - but finishing a painting has its own charms, and doesn't leave the ringing of slot machines in my ears.
Bing
This image highlights what I love most about dockside imagery. The synthetic colors of the fishing equipment next to the organic textures of water, wood and rust are just intoxicating. Big bold buoys get me every time :)
This image highlights what I love most about dockside imagery. The synthetic colors of the fishing equipment next to the organic textures of water, wood and rust are just intoxicating. Big bold buoys get me every time :)
A beat up old boat, slimy green docks - you are far from traditional beauty. I mean, we all know it doesn't smell so nice there.. But when I come across that moment of color and light, it's like finding a jewel in the mud... Unexpected, unlikely delight...
The little close ups show the building blocks of the painting - and how oil paint is a great tool to create various edges and texture
Red Shack
I took the reference for this painting as I passed Beacon Marina in Gloucester, MA, completing my favorite walk around the Back Shore.
I took the reference for this painting as I passed Beacon Marina in Gloucester, MA, completing my favorite walk around the Back Shore. From the sidewalk I saw the sun hitting this red shack, and just had to capture some photo reference. The calm water made for a clean composition of flat blue, messy dock in the background, and that red shack. It's a simple image, but like my insightful brother Jarod said, "the red gets you at first, but then you explore..."
Simplicity is usually just complexity hidden by good proportions however, and painting this little guy was not the joyous flurry of brushstrokes I'd envisioned. As happens so many times I got to a middle point( or as I like to call it in my unhelpful mind the "what a train wreck" stage) and weighed my options. Is this worth finishing? How did I mess this up? And the ever supportive "got a little too confident didn't you?"...
And then - I mixed more red and got to work making it happen.
It usually only takes a coffee break & a few paint strokes until I see just enough light to believe there's a favorable end of the tunnel. And then it's such a nice win.
Whether it's the best painting ever isn't the point. The point is to reflect the inspiration that made me stop for this image in the first place.
Bias for action
From today’s walk - newly fallen petals are like a holiday wreath, gussying up the whole street. I like to collect these images and imagine one day they will become a collection of mini abstracts…
This image is from today’s walk - newly fallen petals are like a holiday wreath, gussying up the whole street. I like to collect these images and imagine one day they will become a collection of mini abstracts…. The bigger question is why I added that someday instead of just fitting little abstracts in now. What I feel good about is the I noticed that “someday” dynamic, and am calling it out - a couple of years ago I would have accepted it - “of course, you can’t just start randomly making something, you are so busy, you need the right materials, a plan…”. Hahaha - even writing that sounds so ridiculous. My time as the director at Art Haven has taught me that simply moving forward, doing what seem most right is the way to go - you learn as you go, correct what you need to…. In the process, you get something done!
A wise colleague termed this a “bias for action”…. I love that, the phrasing alone
I know that holding off action to “think” more than necessary is a less than inspiring tendency I have - and is certainly some insecurity/fear issue - so it needs to be handled regularly.…. It seems this pandemic situation has hit me two ways. I’ve become more bold in my professional work, and more tentative in my personal - why I am not sure. Maybe that work “boldness’ is taking up a lot of energy! In any case, sometimes just naming a thing & bringing it to light gets you half way to fixing it!
Get ready to see new mini paintings, and more marine stuff stuff. Can’t have my job leave my personal work in the dust - i’m best when they are neck & neck…
