Oil on Canvas Panel 12 x 16 ins
I painted this portrait of my daughter from a photo I took while we were sitting on our deck one sunny lunchtime. I was struck by the lovely green reflection of her shirt in her cheek and chin. It really seemed to jump up there!
Here are some of the steps I took in the painting:
This is my brother!
Last summer I delivered paintings of his wife and his son to them when we visited. He very gently hinted that it might be fitting to have one of himself to go with them.
When I returned home I collected all the photos I had of him and sent him a selection of my favorites as possibilities for painting. We both agreed that this one was our choice. It’s from a vacation in Greece (I didn’t take the photo!).
I liked the warmth and happiness of the photo. It was a full-length shot and the resolution was not very high when I enlarged it, but the expression and the colors were so great I proceeded anyway.
He and I are both pleased with the result and I will deliver it to him in the UK later this year.
This painting is from another photo from Unsplash.com (thanks to aisvri for the free-use photo).
I loved her red hair against the muted blues, and her look of cool appraisal. I think she’s asking for meaning.
Again from a photo from Unsplash, and again really fun to paint! The steps of my process are outlined below.
So much fun! This portrait is based on a photo from Unsplash, but adapted according to my memories of our 4 month stay in India in 2014. One overwhelming impression there was the riot of color—in clothing, outside temples, in decorations. It was a beautiful feast of color!
Here’s a gallery of some steps in the process:
Oil on canvas panel, 12 x 16 ins
This is from a selfie photo, but not of me! As I was looking through the photos on my ‘phone I discovered several ‘unauthorized’ selfies of my teenage daughter. I told her that her ‘punishment’ was that I’d paint from them! She was horrified at first, but now actually likes the painting!
I painted this after watching a video lesson series (Contemporary Oil Portraiture, by Torsten Wolber) on the European site Domestika. His instruction is in German, but there are subtitles available in many languages. He’s a really fun teacher and opened my eyes to some new methods which I am loving trying out.
This year I submitted 5 entries to the Small Art Show at Arts Illiana and was delighted to have all 5 selected for the Show. All pieces in this Show must be no more than 12 inches in any dimension, including the frame.
We had a very pleasant opening reception on Oct. 7, 2022.
The Show will be up until Dec. 17, 2022. All the works are for sale.
I liked the lower left design best, so I chose that for my painting.
I applied the paint with a palette knife throughout. I like the sunlight effect in the lower half of the painting.
8 x 10 ins, oil on canvas board
This painting was painted from 3a, the lower half of the sketch book page. I liked the lower left Notan the best and so used that for my guide. I used palette knives again throughout this one, as for Composition 3.
8 x 10 ins, oil on canvas board
This painting was developed from the notan on the top half of the sketch book page, 3c. I used the value pattern on the top right, although the tree/bush at the left side of the road really ended up being a dark shape. I thought it looked a better balance as I was painting.
This time I painted entirely with a palette knife. I enjoy the thick and expressive paint!
marymayhewart 