5 minutes 2 hands

I was finally able to pull my hands away for from their occupier for 5 minutes and do a drawing. You'll notice this is less detailed then usual, that is because the lights were dimmed to let the baby sleep but it does help to change my focus from details to more general shapes, values, etc.

figure portrait

A couple weeks I did this portrait at our weekly figure drawing session. I only had my sketchbook and it is very tricky to do a full figure with my usual .3 size lead mechanical pencil so I typically do a portrait. It is less free then most drawings because I worry more about the measurements on these.
Excuse the image, I gave him the drawing and only had this poor quality digital image left. I've decided my policy is only to give away a drawing if they really really act like they want it and go to the trouble of asking. I'm usually pretty willing but a) I feel very presumptuous offering ("I am so sure you want this fantastic drawing I did, right?") and b) I am not sure how much they want it, I would usually prefer to keep it. He asked about getting a copy but when he got the original seemed less then ecstatic.

sketchbook #36

A small drawing. This face is pretty small so when working with limited space you have to make sure each line placed correctly.

This is not a painting

Well, things got more complicated last week with the birth of our first daughter. Actually she is (obviously) beautiful, but a handful that didn't come with an off switch, so I will have to work harder to find time for my artwork. She will surely be a good muse as she grows and her artist mother and I are already teaching her the basics of color theory, composition using the Golden mean, chiaroscuro, fat over lean, etc. She will be an uber-artist.

Glow

A new oil painting done on a 16"x20" Masonite board. I basically like it. One interesting thing is that as it has been sitting against the wall for the last few weeks I've notice that it has a fantastic glow to the face (this isn't really relayed by the digital image), which is what I had hoped for. The dull cool colors in the background and warm colors in the face to direct the attention. I think the face has 3-4 layers to build up the lights so I suppose it is reflecting light just below the surface.

I've included a detail so that you can see the paint work up close.

Ode to Ingres

I LOVE Ingres. His paintings are so fantastic. Above is a drawing I found in a great book called Portraits of Ingres, I highly recommend it. This is based off one of his drawings, not necessarily a perfect match but I thought is was interesting how carefully he would do the face then a lot of the periphery is done very rough. Some of the hands, like this one, look like their straight out of a Picasso drawing.

Painting final

So here is the final version of the painting. This step is just the fleshing out and final detail. Obviously this is rougher than my usual style but I've done that purposely. The initial and rough work is done with bristle brushes and the more finished work is sometimes sable but usually Langnickel Royal Sable which I really like at the moment. The Sable and hog bristle are from an online company called Trekell, who have great prices.

I'll probably have this propped up against the wall in my studio for a couple months to see if it feels okay or I may have to go back to it.

You can see each step in the process here.