Untitled 49

This is as dark as possible without any black. It's a variety of very very dark blues and grays. You probably can't see much variation on the computer screen, but there is some.

What do you compulsively sketch? What types of subject matter are you continually drawn to look at or draw, or just want to draw? I've realized that, for example, when I take my sketchbook along to a cafe, it's not bodies I want to draw, and it's not the furniture, nor the scene out the window, nor the fluffy dog tied to the outdoor table, nor even the still life of espresso products lined up on the counter... It's always faces. I'm so in love with human faces. I really miss the alla prima portrait class I was in so briefly. I do want to get back to portraiture, somehow. I suppose that leaves self-portrait studies, for now at least. I think it's time to figure out how the heck I can set everything up in my studio (lighting, placement of easel, mirror, and seat, palette within reach, etc.) to do some.

There's an amazing new book out there: Suzanne Brooker's Portrait Painting Atelier. I got it from our excellent public library and am going to buy a copy. It's for intermediate-level (e.g., you know most of the vocabulary but maybe haven't learned all the techniques) oil painters, dedicated about 80% (my guesstimate) to indirect painting (painting in layers, where you wait for each one to dry before proceeding--what I did in art school, and which leads to a "tight" look rather than loose) and perhaps only 20% to direct (alla prima). Even though I am almost wholly interested in alla prima style, nevertheless, the information is so good and thorough that I definitely want the book. If you do paint portraits in oils indirectly, this book will be your bible. Interestingly, although the book is vastly about indirect-style painting, there are tons of great reproductions of both indirect and direct-style contemporary portraits. Mouthwatering. Inspiring. My personal favorites in this book might just be the Robert Liberace alla prima portraits.

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All alone and bored. Looking for a playmate...

Rumi heard from Garrett, SamArtDog's dog (who would like to eat Rumi, but never mind that right now), that buying these postage stamps currently can help feed shelter companion animals.

In Jaipur.

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Ann

My dear, dear friend Ann came to pose for me the other night for three hours. (Yes, I paid her. I don't abuse my friends...too much.)

She'd like you all to know that she "doesn't always look that tired." :)  

It was hard to figure out a setup in my home studio for a model and lighting and everything. (Plus putting a DVD movie on for her to watch while I painted her, so she wouldn't die of boredom.) In the end, we went with what sort of worked, though it was far from ideal in terms of physical arrangements, space, and lighting. I made sure to give her a very uncomfortable hard chair so she wouldn't fall asleep. ;)

I tried a new surface and a new technique. I keep experimenting because I'm still unsatisfied with results. Perhaps someday, if I have three or four more lifetimes, I'll figure it all out. Or not.

Amazingly, though, it did capture, remarkably well, something ineffable about her.

$325.00 - Ann (Ready to Frame)

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Dan 4

Our stolid Dan, from yesterday's alla prima class. Doesn't he look movie-star handsome?

$235.00 - Dan 4 (Ready to Frame)

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Scarlett

Our model Scarlett, sporting her "biker" cap and sexy tank top. From Wed.'s alla prima class.

$225.00 - Scarlett (Ready to Frame)

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Copying Sargent

Sargent is one of my favorite painters. I love how he does most everything he did, including bold, luscious lights. I feel that he was able to model form perfectly with a minimum of fuss. I don't know how much of what he did was alla prima, but it FEELS alla prima, juicy, bravura. There seem to be a lot of books about his life and whatnot, but not about his technique. Anyone know of a resource out there, or know more about his technique(s)?

I should definitely have been doing some of this all along in my painting-learning journey; I really enjoyed it and feel I learned some things too--for example, fascinatingly for me, I noticed similarities to one of my favorite contemporary artists, Richard Schmid. I will do more of these quick studies, including in color (which will, of course, be much harder!).

I currently have a Sargent book out from the library and these were two of the paintings that in the book were reproduced in black and white, so I decided that since I'm going back to basics anyway, I'd copy them in black and white too. My copies are about 8" x 5" each, each done in one hour on canvas pad. I liked the results so much I now wish I'd used something nicer to paint them on! But that's part of it, I want to see them as just a learning tool, not a finished artwork. (Though I really do love how they turned out! That's what you get when you copy a master...)

These are copies after Sargent's Head of Aesop (which is his copy of Velazquez, and I like Sargent's version better), and Head of a Female Model.  My copies are smaller than his paintings.

If interested in purchasing these ($115 each), please let me know.

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Ursula

The model was standing on a platform and looking up (don't know how she could do that for 3 hours!), with lighting from below--so a very different painting experience yesterday.

$325.00 - Ursula (Ready to Frame)

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Dan 3

Another of our favorite and frequent models, Dan. He poses like a statue; it's unbelievable. Apparently, he used to be a "bureaucrat and therefore knows how to sit still for long periods of time" (his words).

$325.00 - Dan 3 (Ready to Frame)

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Monk James

Our renowned Ozzie snake-hunter model James, called in on a moment's notice to save the day when another model couldn't come, this time in a monk incarnation (or, variously labeled during class, "in his bathrobe" or "a young Yoda" [he does have those big pointy ears...]).

$155.00 - Monk James (Ready to Frame)

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Michelle

Yesterday's lovely alla prima model.

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Sarah

This is Sarah, a lovely young model and also an artist. She had great poise. This is from yesterday's alla prima class.

$155.00 - Sarah (Ready to Frame)

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Robbie

A lovely young guy, Robbie. I'd seen him at a restaurant where he's a busboy and asked him if he might want to model for our alla prima class. Lucky for us--he said yes.  Buoyed by this, I will considering "pimping" some more alla prima models in the future for my art teacher. :)

Sold

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Stephen

Stephen is a great model (this was from yesterday's alla prima class). He doesn't move; in fact, he's so professional about it that when a bug crawled over his forehead, he politely asked someone what was on his face and could it please be removed. (When *I* even slightly suspect that some INSECT might be on me, I go into hysterical flailing and screaming.)

He also has a wonderfully textbook masculine face: square jaw, strong neck muscles, low brow, all nice paintable angles.  Back in art school, we once had him for a figure model, and he is amazing: he's in excellent shape and has pretty much no body fat, so you can see not only every muscle, but even every tendon.  I remember that painting his shoulder area was like an anatomy lesson. (Don't get too excited, girlz, he's gay.)

Though I'm pleased with how the portrait turned out, nevertheless I didn't get a likeness, and it was the mouth that missed the likeness. Drat!

$145.00 - Stephen (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com