Tag children

Sleeping 1, caught unawares

mayhewjnm 6 Comments

 

img_0033 crop

9 x 12, acrylic on board

This is a one hour study from a photo. I love sleeping pictures because they are so unposed and the person is very relaxed. This daughter, though, thinks that it’s unfair to catch her without her knowledge, and I can understand her feeling of vulnerability. However, I still like sleeping pictures.

It was fun to see it come together as I placed the colors and values. I concentrated on her face; if I’d allowed myself more time, I would have changed the shadow on her arm, and worked on the fabric of her dress a bit more.

 

Katherine

mayhewjnm 2 Comments

IMG_0016

Oil, 8 x 10, linen on board

I painted this portrait of my youngest daughter from a photograph that I took in the spring of 2016. The photo was taken in a cafe in Chicago, after our we had  just enjoyed a very good family trip to the Adler Planetarium. I think she had a special drink here, which is one reason for the pleased look on her face. I think she also looks calm and dreamy-maybe tired!

I painted this after watching videos by Matt Philleo  www.realisticacrylic.com although I did not completely follow his methods. He gives good information and teaching on painting very realistic portraits in acrylic, which were helpful and useful, but I decided to use oils in a slightly looser manner.

The result makes me smile inside.

 

Summer Triads

mayhewjnm 1 Comment

IMG_0296

Red Treasure, Acrylic 9 x 12

Now I’m adding a time limit (guideline!) to my triad limit. I’m trying to keep each painting time to around an hour—challenging! This triad is Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Medium and Ultramarine Blue (plus Titanium White).

I decided to try the skin tones in the same acrylic colors, and I was using one of my larger brushes to try and capture the big tones and not fuss with the detail. I was pretty excited that I actually could paint as loosely as this!

More blades!

mayhewjnm 2 Comments

IMG_0014

Flying! Acrylic and oil, 9×12

This time I used the Catalyst Blade for the background and the skirt. It was great fun!

I’m trying to limit myself to simple triads of colors this summer. This one is Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Medium and Ultramarine Blue (plus Titanium White, but I think of that as a constant necessity, not part of the triad).

I used oils for the skin, changing the cadmium yellow medium for yellow ochre.

I used a photograph of my granddaughter at a fast food restaurant play place as the basis for this painting. I love the wildly mixed colors, which feel to me like the energy, noise and sometimes chaos, of these play places.

 

Wedges and Blades

mayhewjnm 1 Comment

I’m really enjoying experimenting with these great tools, especially the mini-blades with handles. They are like flexible palette knives and the feeling is very liberating. I can mix and scrape right on the canvas and create all sorts of effects that a brush would not do.

This small acrylic painting (6×8 in) is a study for a larger painting. My daughter was trying on her first real ballet outfit, twirling around the room, and caught sight of herself in the sliding glass door. Her pose caught my eye.  What was going through her mind?

I loved how the blades made the tulle of the tutu. The rest of the study was done with brushes.

Portrait Practice

mayhewjnm 2 Comments

IMG_0061

A Grandaughter, oil, 9 x 8 ins

I painted this one with an acrylic underpainting (full color) and then oils on top. I used a color isolator to see each color accurately. I like the result and am happy with her expression and the overall result!

 

Second Place!

mayhewjnm 2 Comments

IMG_0468

Acrylic, 9 x 12

This week I found out that this painting won second place in a local juried show! The entries for this show had to be on a ‘serene, inspirational or uplifting theme’. I was away in England for the whole show and so did not find out the result until my husband went to collect the paintings. What a lovely surprise!

A write -up on the whole show can be seen at www.rivercityart.org

Lois by the river

mayhewjnm 2 Comments

IMG_0038

Acrylic on hardboard, 6 x 8 in

This was from a photo that my daughter-in-law posted online. I loved everything about it, so asked permission (granted) to paint it. I love the light on Lois and on the river, giving her such beautiful golden hair and the river such wonderful green hues. I love her pose and the shadow it forms. What did she stop to look at and what is she thinking?