Another Portrait

Practice, practice, practice - and I am starting to feel the return of my own painter's voice as I put more and more paint on the canvas.That is very exciting to me as I was so afraid I had lost more than I could recover. But, thankfully, it seems to come back with practice and persistence. This is today's effort - 20x16 oil on linen along with a close up..

Two Starts - Toulouse Lautrec and a Portrait

Sunday's effort - done using an old black and white photo as reference. It's a start and allowed me to tentatively feel my way around the canvas. I am still very unsure and am begining to realize that i will need to paint a lot in order to get back some of my lost confidence. My intent, at the end of October, will be to paint everyday - while working full time I have never been able to do that consistently and it is one of my goals. This weekend I made an effort to consciously paint shape, color and value - trying to keep those things foremost in my mind as I placed paint on the canvas. I plan to try and go back to refine and finish this after it sets up a bit.

Saturdays effort - started a portrait of my mother in law on her 95th birthday. I captured her likeness but was not happy with the progression and ended up wiping it off. It seems like I am going to be doing lots of starts!

 

Also, I am having serious trouble with my Blog - it all started after I undated my email address. It is acting very fickle and at times will no tlet me comment on other blogs or even update this one. I have been unable to find the problem but wil lkeep trying. I still stop by my favorite blog sites and find it so frustrating to be unable to leave a comment. I am trying to get some help with this issue and hope to have it fixed soon.

My Father

I have 3 sisters and I have always maintained that I am my father's favorite daughter - of course, all of my sisters feel exactly the same way. Perhaps that says something about the man who made each one of us feel so special.  He has always been interested in my paintings and occassionally sends me clippings from the Wall Street Journal regarding the state of art in the world today. He thinks I charge way too little for my work and  constantly encourages me to raise my prices several 100%. There is nothing more delightful than to have a supporter like that to lend encouragement. He is so dear to me and I do remain convinced that, secretly, I am his favorite daughter!

My Cousin Audre

This is a casual portrait of my cousin Audre. Audre has the most delicate pale skin which is framed by her gorgeous black hair. She has remarkable beauty. I painted this portait cropped from a photo of Audre sitting at a table in a restaurant near Lake Tahoe watching the antics of her 5 month old grandaughter. I loved the complexity of the light and shadow over the contours of her face, the hint of an adoring smile and the beautiful colors. This was done alla prima in about 3 hours this afternoon.
I used an unusual palette - thalo green, alizarin crimson, cobalt blue, white, a tiny bit of sienna and a tiny bit of umber - not a usual portrait palette at all. I love the black that is made from thalo, alizarin and blue - it is so deep and infinite - like looking into deep space.

If you click on the painting, it will enlarge and you can get a better look at it - aren't computers wonderful?!

Partners

I find I can say things with brushstrokes, with paint as color and light, with value and shape, that I cannot say in any other way. This tiny jewel of a painting is only 5x7 inches and yet when I put it in my black and gold baroque tabletop frame, it took on a presence I could not have predicted. Please contact me by email for pricing.

Fresno Firefighter

I finally finished the portrait of Fresno Firefighter Jeremy Slocum. I am happy with it because I have a good likeness and I feel I have captured the intensity of this moment with the look in his eyes, the set of his mouth, the abstracted, yet not indistinct background. It is 16x20, oil on canvas.