Paint and Sketch From Life

  This entry was originally posted on Saturday, October 20, 2012

Rain, 11x14"

 

The best way to increase your skill as an artist is to sketch and paint from life.

Form, shape, and color appear very differently.

There are so many lessons learned that photographs cannot tell you.

And those lessons will translate into your work and make it better when you do paint from a photograph.

 

Light Reveals

  This entry was originally posted on Monday, July 30, 2012

Light reveals shape, texture, and detail.

Objects will appear more crisp and clear.

Multiple Figures

   This entry was originally posted on Friday, July 27, 2012

When there are multiple figures in the distance, you want to keep a sense of perspective.

To do so, paint all the heads on the same level.

The bodies may appear bigger to indicate how close the figure is but the heads should all be on or about on the same level.

Figure in the Distance

  This entry was originally posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012

Painting a shadowy figure in the distance is all a matter of breaking it down into simple shapes.

First start with a circle for a head

Next add an oval for the body.

This oval can be long and thin or morecircular depending on what body shape you want. 

 

Now add a triangle or carrot like shape for the legs.

This will give it the impression of walking.

 

Finally you can add a hat to the figure to make it different from all the other figures if you want. 

 

Do this with some yellow and red behind it and you have a cowboy walking off into the sunset.

Shoulders

   This entry was originally posted on Monday, July 23, 2012

 

Trying to draw how wide a person's shoulders are can be difficult.

But here is a general rule of thumb to help in understanding how wide those shoulders should be.

A woman's shoulder width is usually the width of her head on each side of her head.

That makes 3 head widths across.

For a man, take his egg-shaped head and turn it on its side.

Each shoulder is about the length of his head.

Skin Colors

   This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2012

 

When I start painting a figure, I start with the lightest color to the skin.

This will either be warm or cool depending on the complexion of the sitter. 

I will create this color from a mix of New Gamboge with either Permanent Alizarin Crimson or Permanent Rose for warm tones. Raw Sienna with either Permanent Alizarin Crimson or Permanent Rose for cool or darker complexions.

Maddie and Cameron: A Portrait Commission

Maddie and Cameron

11x14"

Commission piece

   Maddie and Cameron is another portrait commission I completed in the spring of this little girl holding her newborn baby brother in her arms. I hope it is a moment that I can help her remember and cherish forever. 

    I finally got around to creating a time-lapse video of the painting process. You can view the video below. 

Portrait of Great Aunt Lois

Lois Brown

16x20"

    This summer, I was commissioned by some family members to paint a portrait of my Great Aunt Lois, who is my mother's aunt and my grandmother's sister. It was her children that commissioned me to paint the portrait. The portrait was to be done from a black and white photograph of her at the age of 18. 

      My great aunt is now 93 years old and is still very active. She spends half the year on cruises, sightseeing the world. I was honored that her children asked me to paint a portrait of their mother and of one of my favorite aunts.  Of course I wanted to change the photograph by adding color to it. I did want the painting the fade out into a gray, as if the painting were a memory coming to life. I also painted it on handmade paper to help give it a vintage look.  I didn't know the color of the dress and was pleased to discover that it was the color I painted it. 

    I was excited to discover that I would be able to present the painting to her at the family reunion where she proceeded to tell the story behind the photograph. 

     Lois explained that the photograph was taken just after she had graduated high school from a small town in Southeastern Idaho. This was when many of her friends had enlisted in the navy and had been shipped off to Europe or Japan to fight in the war (WWII). Lois wanted to cheer them up and to remind them of her so she got all dressed up and wore a special bracelet with an anchor on it (unfortunately I did not know this nor was I told about this) just for the photograph. Lois mentioned that she sent the photograph to these boyfriends hoping they would remember her and write her back. She did get one reply back from a farm boy she liked very much. The reply was that the photo reminded him of home and he could smell the country air and the manure when he saw it.  Lois said that she never wrote that boy again. 

Me presenting the painting to my Great Aunt Lois