Portraits of people painted and drawn from life.
I got my two sketches together today ( see previous post) to create this study, which was painted in my studio. This will work as a lead-up and guide for the 22 x 30″ watercolor that I’ll be starting tomorrow.
untitled study, 9 x 12″ watercolor
I’m thinking of documenting the progress on the large piece, so if I get that decided( it’s a mental leap to stop and shoot everything) I’ll have something for you to follow.
Members of our Honolulu gallery are often invited to participate in art fairs and public activities. Sometimes it’s fun to just show up and paint something to see what the general public makes of it.
I no longer have a problem with working while people watch…a decade of painting in Central Park got me over that. People are usually decent, and the occasional coots, codgers and malcontents are really little crash-courses in diplomacy. Over the years I’ve learned to enjoy the responses from people looking over my shoulder, trying to figure out what on earth I’m doing.
Jeff Chang oil on panel , 10 x 8″
In this particular event, artists were assigned a space on a shaded pedestrian mall, and I, with my intention of painting something from life, happened to have the esteemed potter/entrepreneur Jeff Chang across from us doing his demonstration.
Since Jeff was in the sunlight, doing something interesting, and holding fairly still, he was fair game for this two hour sketch.
Surprisingly, only a certain percentage of people were able to look at my painting and connect it with what was actually in front of us physically. I don’t know why that is, but it’s interesting. Probably something to do with our modern tendency towards a life predominated by second-hand visual experiences (television, print media, and computers), rather than looking and seeing the world directly.
Anyway, I came away with this small piece from the experience, and some good will from some delightful new acquaintances.
I love doing these! A 20 x 16″ oil study, done as the first exercise in my portrait class. Starting with the biggest color masses of background, a general flesh tone, and hair, I worked towards the smaller masses, using the largest brushes possible, solid painting, and avoiding details of the features. 
The whole idea is to teach oneself to work from the general to the specific. The neutral gray background and black outfit give a value range against which the flesh tones can be measured. It’s a great way to appreciate how much the likeness is in the greater shapes.
I’ve been working hard getting about ten pieces ready for a show opening in a couple weeks. This is the largest piece by far…Summer Storm, 40 x 50″ oil. It’s gone through it’s share of changes, and I’m looking forward to finally fitting it into it’s frame and seeing it up. It does have a bit of a presence.
The rest of the show are pieces from the last few months, and include one pastel figure and a drawing to boot. I include the figure pieces because I like the look and feel of them, and to remind people that understandably regard me as mostly a painter of the ocean that I love to draw and paint the figure as well.
I also just finished this small (12 x 16″) harbor piece that I think is effective. And I have a perfect frame for it.
More later!
I’m haunted by ocean images, no doubt about it. While I’ve come to know that this subject doesn’t resonate with everyone, I return to it often and for reasons that are not entirely clear to me. It’s beautiful, suggestive, sensitive and dangerous. It’s mysterious, and all five senses are involved in appreciating it. The ocean is a response to something larger, and points back to that larger source.
This small pastel ( 12 x 16″) is a product of imagination and recollection, supported by drawings and lots of looking. The ocean won’t sit for me like other subjects, which is part of the challenge. Good thing, too. I need to tailor the craft to suit the mood as well as the look.
This is from an impromptu watercolor demonstration at my Life Drawing class last Thursday. I did this to demonstrate the connection between the drawing approach I teach and painting. The painting is only an extension of the drawing into color and form, and not a separate thing.
I consider an hour to be a minimal amount of time to spend on anything in color, and fully anticipate anything resulting in that hour to be a sketch at best.
Incidentally, I don’t believe in pushing oneself to work quickly, as if speed was somehow a virtue. I know others may disagree with me, but I’ll post more on this later if you are interested.
A 45 minute pose from my figure drawing class this week.
Cont’e and pastel on 9 x 12″ paper, and a good exercise in selection and restraint. How much does it take to say just enough? I’ve developed a motto that has served well in such instances: “Suggest, don’t explain.”
That doesn’t imply that I wish to maneuver around the difficulties inherent in art by rationalizing (aren’t you weary of artists offering the disingenuous “less is more” as a justification for an actual weakness in artwork?), but likewise, there is a line one can cross where the display of technical ability, what Hilary Holmes once termed “muscle flexing”, will get in the way of poetry and create coldness. The task of the student and the work of the artist aren’t the same; a point which is becoming more apparent to me.
To that end, in my next post I’ll offer a little drawing from my files that has always been a an ideal of where I’d like to arrive one day.
I’ve spent the first part of the new year sketching in pastel with an eye towards some new subjects for oil and pastel. One that I’ve gotten a start on is a difficult morning piece, looking downward and across from a high and somewhat precarious vantage point. The light effect, early morning about an hour after dawn, is brief but very exciting!
My setup seen from the side. Since gusts of wind are an issue up here, the setup is low to the ground, and I’m staying seated.
This is my viewpoint, about twenty minutes before my actual light affect occurs. The main lines of my composition are drawn in with thin paint, and the next step is blocking in the main shapes with approximate colors and values, as close as I’m able to get them.
My morning’s work, first day. I’m going to have to gain some balance on the right side of the composition, but the movement seems good. This was shot afterwards indoors, so the colors in the image are somewhat lighter and warm.