Tag Portrait

Cara, Oil on gessoed MDF board, 9 x 12 ins.

I painted this, using my own photo, after watching lessons by Jane French on Domestika.

She uses a direct approach and a square brush technique. I like her paintings because she uses surprising colors on the skin tones, and yet from a distance they meld in beautifully.

I did not achieve the same colors in the skin tones here. That needs another attempt. I’m happy with the brushwork changes I made.

The picture reminds me of a happy conversation on a pleasant evening with friends.

Lesson by Jane French

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The Green Look

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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:

The first layer and the motif
All colors and values blocked in
Momentum added
Started on refinements

Happy in Greece

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Oil on Canvas Panel, 12 x 16 ins

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.

Contemporary Portrait-Indian Girl

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12 x 16 ins, oil on canvas panel

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:

Dancing with the colors—a freehand placing of connected colors.
Adding the motif by oil transfer.
Negative blocking—rubbing out the lightest areas with a paper towel.
Blocking in the major values and colors.
Adding some momentum—brushing, scraping, swiping and swooshing!
Restoring the image with more layers of color and refinement.

Contemporary ‘selfie’ Portrait

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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.

Eden

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Oil on canvas panel, 18 x 24

I painted this picture of my youngest granddaughter from a photo taken and sent by my daughter-in-law. Besides loving the subject, I loved the light on her face. The photo was actually taken in their bathroom without the toys. I adjusted the background and requested a photo of the toys to add to the foreground.

This painting is currently on display at the Link Art Gallery in Paris, IL. I was delighted to find that my painting was chosen as the one used for the promotional cards for the Show. It will be up until July 15, 2022, along with other works by members of the River City Art Association, including two more of mine.

BIG READ ‘Beloved’ Library Exhibit

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‘Future Promise’, Oil and glitter glue on canvas panel, 12 x 16 ins

As part of the annual Library Big Read program (by NEA and Arts Midwest) the River City Art Association provided a visual display of works related to the theme of the book. They are on display at the Vigo County Library.

I read the book in January, and chose to represent the passage where Denver describes her birth story to Beloved. There are several aspects I find beautiful about this story, one being that a white woman helped the escaping slave, Sethe, give birth to Denver (on a boat in the middle of the Ohio River), and it was ‘done appropriately and well’. Another inspiring aspect is the description of the blue and silver fern spores in the river, each one containing information for promise of the future.

The display will be up until Friday, April 1, 2022.