Painted in glazes.
8 x 8 in, oil on linen panel. Always a delight to paint.
Tag Portrait
Swope Art Museum Juried Exhibition 2020
This was exciting! My painting ‘All In It Together’ was selected to be part of this year’s juried Exhibition at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, www.swope.org.
The show is open to artists in Indiana and the surrounding states of Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky and Ohio. Out of over 400 entries 76 were selected for display. I was delighted to be included!
We went along to view the Exhibition today. It was great to see all the paintings and sculptures in reality. It was inspiring!
Fleeting Youth
I painted this using the acrylic glazing method-many very thin layers so that the color gradually builds up. The background and much of the hair was painted with thicker, opaque layers.
She is moving fast, enjoying the bright sunshine and outdoor activity. Just like her movement, her youth will seem to have flown by so fast. One flash and she’ll be grown up!
Sunshine Girl
Oil on Board, 12 x 16, 90 minutes
This was a delight to paint during these grey and rainy days!
One hour Portraits from Photos
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).
Bellevue Gallery Show III
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.
Portrait Lesson IV
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.
Portrait Lesson III
Her eyes make a big improvement! It was so great to see ‘life’ appear in her face!
Portrait lesson II
Lessons with Kari Rajkumar, Spring 2019
I’ve had the great pleasure of having four lessons with Kari Rajkumar, from Paris IL, this spring (Feb, March, May and June). She is an accomplished artist in oil portraits. I first saw her paintings on display in Terre Haute last fall and knew right away that I’d like to learn from her.
We decided to delay starting lessons until after Christmas. It worked out best for her to come to my home, which was very convenient for me! We worked on a copy of a portrait by John Singer Sargent, each working on our own painting. She instructed and described processes as we went along in the 3 hour lessons.
I learnt so much great information about oil paintings and portraits in particular. I also benefitted from applying those to my other paintings, which Kari would then critique for me. That was really helpful.
