DAY 71 - SQUIRRELS!!!!!

As I have been known to yell at my dogs when the squirrels are swinging from the bird feeder.  When I got home today from a funeral in need of distraction a sleek female decided to pose for me on the back porch.

I did something Charles Reid said to do when drawing live models in quick poses...just keep drawing them on the same piece of paper till you fill it up...and I did...after all wasn't my lady squirrel a live model??

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Background Piemonite and ultramarine blue...squirrels painted with zoitite and raw umber with ultramarine and burnt umber for shadows. Those primeteks do a great job on fur...and I also like their transparency!!!  Pentel brush pen for outlining and lettering.

Ps Am excited...I have a chance to spend a week with Charles Reid in the mountains in October...should I or shouldnt I??   Thinking SHOULLLDDD!!!!

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Day 65 - Alex is done

Thanks for bearing with me as I complete this painting...she's come along way since the beginning.

Calling her done. The color is off in this photo - iPhone misbehaving. Maybe I should get out the real camera?!

The painting is done on canvas with acrylic paint.  Time to be brave and get out the oils!!

Alex Detail

Since the face is a bit blurry in the photo of the whole painting I am adding a detail so you can see her better.  I really like her eye.

And here she is in her glory.  My favorite part is her hand and the fabric nearest her hand.  OH and her eye!!  Now its time to put my feet up and think about something else for a while.  This started as an alla prima painting Sunday.  I suppose it still is...I am just glad shes DONE!! And yes I do like her. For the moment I am quite pleased with her!!

If you notice the background has changed alot in the finished one.  I did it by painting over the right background with yellow ochre and white  and sometimes a little burnt sienna, thinning it and smearing it with the biggest brush I could find.  The left side was done in a similar manner with burnt umber, ultramarine blue and phthalo blue.   The colors are scrubbed on with a dry brush OR I thinned it with water to glaze over the underlying colors which united them.

A few other adjustments...her arms were just off as was her breast...too big...and I narrowed her shoulder...just fractions of an inch but it can make a BIG difference!!

Who knows...I may get up in the morning and decide she needs a whole makeover but I think shes staying like she is for now..maybe forever.  A coat of Minwax semigloss polyurethane will give her the shine of an oil painting. Then she really will be done!
Thanks for looking.  Promise something new tomorrow!!

Day 63 - More Life Drawing

This was how I left her last nite.  All of these paintings are done with acrylic paint on canvas.  The first one is 14x16. Done from life modeling sessions.

Erica 14x16

Thought I has finished Erica after a few minor tweaks only to notice her cheek in the shadow is lighter than the one in the light. Hmmm?!

Done or so I thought! Till I noticed that her left cheek in the light was actually darker than the cheek in the shadow...HMM its always something isn't it??

I did lower her right eye...it had been slightly higher than the left.  Can you find the other changes??  I read in Richard Schmid's great book Alla Prima II that all of the features should be parallel to each other. AKA a line draw thru the brows should be parallel with a line drawn thru the eyes and the mouth...I had a few problems there.  I think I fixed them now.

Erica II (20x24)

Al Beyer was painting her from the side yesterday and I thought it a much more interesting view so I snapped a couple of pics of her from that angle.  Today I started to paint it...so far so good.  I really like this one.

Pleased w how this is going. Still a lot to do like her hand but the major work is done. I actually did not draw this one first like I usually do. I sketched  her in phthalo blue paint of all colors. Then I changed to burnt sienna. I do like the phthalo that is showing thru on her lower face above the shoulder.  She's fairly simply painted with large brushes without a lot of blending.  

BYTW I finally broke down and bought one of those large covered pallettes by Masterson Sta Wet Pallette..best thing since sliced bread.  It's kept my paint wet since MAY!!! I just spritz it down before I cover it till next time.  Truly amazing. I was tired of throwing out dried out acrylics or even worse finally mix the right color only to have it dry up before I finished painting. GRRR!!! I finally changed the pallette sheet today but still have some of the colors I put out in May...colors I dont use a lot.   Be SURE you get the large flat one with the BLUE lid not the one with the slots in it.