Month December 2019

One hour Portraits from Photos

mayhewjnm 3 Comments

Recently I tried two more one hour portraits, but this time from photos I’d taken in the past year. They were useful studies, again with good learning experiences involved. The process forces quick decisions, and sometimes they are wrong! In the first picture, the angle of the face should be tipped forward more. (I used this study as a practice for a more finished painting).

In the second painting, the general positioning is good, but the eyes are too low, even though I was comparing distances with the end of my paintbrush. However, she has the right look of intensity and concentration. I’d like to do this one again as a more finished painting.

They are both oil , 11 x 14, painted on canvas board (toned chromium oxide green).

One Hour Portraits from Life

mayhewjnm 1 Comment

On my recent birthday, which fell in Thanksgiving week, my requested activity was to paint portraits of my family members from life. I thought they could not sit for too long, so I attempted to complete each portrait in one hour. It was challenging! In the end we spent one and a quarter hours for most of them.

I painted the first one the day before my birthday, the next three on my birthday, and the last one three days later. My family found it more difficult to sit than they expected! I tried to encourage them to be relaxed, move as they needed and feel free to talk to the people around, but not to me! I was very grateful for their efforts.

They are all 11 x 14, oil, painted on a chromium oxide green toned canvas board.

Sharing a hat

mayhewjnm 2 Comments

Oil, 11 x 14

This painting combines two ideas that are interesting to me at the moment- people’s uses of and interactions with their devices, and the recurring theme of my husband’s Tilley hat.

On this occasion the phone was a pleasant link between my husband and our grandson. Sadly, the phone came to a sudden demise a few weeks after this, and the photo he was taking has been lost forever.

The Tilley hat is so wonderful to paint! I love the shape and the color, and of course it goes along with my husband, who I also love to paint. It is my husband’s best hat ever; in fact this is the second one he’s had, replaced under warranty; the first one wore out from so much wear. (I have one too, a different color). We highly recommend Tilley hats!