Author mayhewjnm

One hour Portraits from Photos

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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

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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

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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!

Bellevue Gallery Show III

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This is my third month-long Show at the Bellevue Gallery, which is attached to the Farmer House Museum in Bloomington, IN. I had 16 paintings on display for the month of October. There are 4 portraits, 4 landscapes, 4 flowers and 4 figures. Paul Kane, artist-in-residence at the Gallery, hung the Show and placed them in unusual dimensions to show that I was working in different directions. I think my next Show should be more uniform and cohesive?

We had a reception on Friday, Oct 18, which was mid-Show. Attendance was low, but we had a great time playing music and talking! I am very grateful to be able to display my paintings at the Gallery.

Honorable Mention!

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I entered this 11 x 14 oil portrait, which I titled ‘Satisfied’, in the annual River City Art Association juried Show in August. I was delighted when it received an Honorable Mention! It was displayed for the rest of August in the lobby of the main branch of a bank in town, and then was moved to a different branch lobby for the month of September, as part of the ‘Winner’s Show’. I went to the Winner’s Reception and thoroughly enjoyed talking to the artists present.

‘Satisfied’, oil on canvas board, 11 x 14

More Vacation Plein Air

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Acrylic, 6 x 9 ins
The view from our campsite, in OH, mid-August
Acrylic, 6 x 9 ins
A closer view from the same spot. After some heavy rain, I’d set these children’s umbrellas out to dry. I noticed that I liked the pattern they made, so spent a half hour during ‘quiet time’ painting them.

Forest Plein Air

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Another delightful half-hour spent observing and recording nature, this time at a camping site in northern Ohio. I challenged myself to use only knives and blades again (like the last painting at Lake Erie). I rather the like the top version best, before I added the tree trunks!

Plein Air at Lake Erie

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We’re on a camping trip to the east coast. I brought my pochade box and spent a delightful hour sitting on the southern shore of Lake Erie at sunset, painting this little study. I had decided to challenge myself by bringing only knives and blades (no brushes), so the painting is a little rougher as a result, but the sensation of sweeping paint across the surface was lovely. We stayed to watch the sun finally sink below the horizon-glorious!

Portrait Lesson IV

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Finally finished! I feel my version looks a bit more intense than the original, maybe slightly more worried. The more I look at it, the more changes I see I could make to match the original more accurately. Whilst that seems to lead to a never-ending project, it is also one of the wonderful aspects of drawing or painting that I love; the more you look, the more you see, and you really come to know and appreciate that object in a different way than previously.