Day 39 - New Project

This weekend, during Alpine's ArtWalk, a gentleman came by the studio looking for a landscape painting of the Big Bend National Park. I have only one. He and his wife (via phone and email) decided they wanted to buy the piece. Yippee!!!!
What I didn't expect was that he would also want to commission a portrait! Double Yippee!! And he would be available for some sketching and photos. Yippee again! All of this was Friday and Saturday.
So today, he came back through Alpine and we spent a couple of hours discussing the commission, the delivery of the landscape painting, taking some more photos and working on a sketch. He is now returning to Dallas and we will see them in December.

Some notes; this is perfect timing, especially with the mentoring relationship building. Jennifer has been discussing the photo shoots and using multiple photos for the portrait. We've gone through some of my photos, discussing light, composition, expression and eye direction. We've also talked about portrait sizing: some standards for a head and shoulders is 16 x 20 and 20 x 24. These sizes allow for more space around the head and in the background.
I enjoyed taking a the time today with the sketch. Tho it was only about an hour or so, it allowed me to get to know the client a bit more, finding out what is important to him and a little bit of his background. These help with chosing the expression and lighting. The process of doing the sketch has also helped with getting an idea of some of the proportions and characteristics.
Now, I will finish up some of my other projects, order the stretcher bars for 16x20, work with some of the photos I've taken and do some sketches from them. In December, I will get to photograph the client in his chosen clothing, as well as take some reference pictures of his home/ranch that might be used for the background. Phew...an exciting weekend!

Simple Lemons

Enjoying a bit of painterly process. Not sure if it will remain a totally separate technique or something that will meld. For now it is an exercise and I'm having fun with it.

Day 25 - A bit of playing around

I set up this still life and started with a very strange, very smooth panel. (Speedball Gessoed Art Panel). It was like painting on "Yupo" or mylar. So I needed to pile the paint on a bit thicker than usual. And after a while I was playing with some effects. I realized later that the perspective seems a bit weird and flattened. Even later, I realized that I'd had the wrong contact in my left eye and I wasn't using it. I know, any excuse.

I'm actually kind of fond of the piece. Another aspect of my multiple personalities.

Day 24 - It is the Process, Right?

Part of this process is self-discovery and exposure. So here goes. I'm setting myself up. I have proposed a project and it has been accepted with enthusiasm! Yippee!

Now I'm going to have to do it! Oh No! I will reveal the details as we go foreward, but for now I will only say that it entails a number of quick portraits from life. Quick?

They will be in 3 - 4 hour sessions with a sitter. So I knew I needed practice. I've been working on long detailed pieces so this "quick" sketch is going to be a challenge.

Sunday, I decided to get going on the practice and was able to convince my favorite model (husband) Wayne to sit for a bit.

I love the process! I love painting! But I am often disappointed in the results. But because I have made the committment to tracking this whole thing, it means the bad with the good.

Hope it gets better.

Day 23 - End of the tunnel

Well, I haven't been able to get the model back in for one reason or another. But I knew what I wanted to do. And this is a good exercise for me, too. So. I tried to perk up the lights and get a little bit of life and sparkle in. Softened some of the dark areas. Unified the colors of the shirt. Added the necklace and fluffed the hair a bit. Today, I am satisfied. I may sign it! Will probably need a better photograph of it, but here you are!

Day 22 - Just an Onion

Day 20 - More "daily" work

Ok, a silly little piece (6"x6") but I was in the mood! It is crisp and fall-like outside, so I gathered a branch and a small pumpkin that was a gift from a friend. This is really working as far as making me want to paint everything that is around me. I did do most of this in one afternoon....yesterday. But I needed to touch it up a bit today.

Jennifer and I had talked about enjoying painting fabric. I do! But I haven't worked on it much lately. At least not until these small pieces. It is really good practice for portrait work. I think my next small work will not have fabric (I set it up today), but I'll get back to it again.

Day 18 - Assignment

Well, it really looks like I'm not going to be able to do a painting a day. To get it to the point I prefer, it is taking about 3 days of painting for a "quick" still life.

So about the mentoring; Jennifer and I spoke on Friday. A wonderful chatty call with lots of info and updates. She is working on a portrait commission and it is giving us a good chance to talk about the process. At this stage she has taken photos and is building a composition from her references. This is something I've done to a very small scale. And there we have my assignment! I must find a model willing to let me take a number of photos for a full portrait/figure. For fun, I'll probably try a number of different outfits and backgrounds and lighting. Part of this exercise is looking at lighting, too, so I'll do some inside and outside.

Of course, the most willing "model" is my husband, Wayne. Might even get him in a tux for the shot.

I've loosely set my goals:

Build a "winning" body of work for portfolio and competition.

Have a professional quality portfolio useable for galleries, portrait brokers and potential clients.

A sub-goal, which is a part of the above, is to work on incorporating an environment in the paintings. A background/story/location. I like vague backgrounds and fabrics, but I haven't really explored anything else. So this is a good opportunity for that.