A picture of Zora

I wanted to do a picture with this model, not exclusively a "portrait", by addressing compositional elements and exploring the feel of the piece. So this was a bit of a stretch, with the limitation of keeping it strictly from life and in the time we had with the model. It was fun to paint, especially trying to hit the different textures.

It seems everyone I know is off to the beach, so have fun and enjoy the summertime! Aloha!

One step forward...Zora

Moving forward with this portrait study...worked especially on the face, background and flowers. Would have liked another two hours today!

And one step back...I ran over my cell phone with the lawnmower last Friday, including the memory card, so have lost all my recent contact information and probably some old ones too that weren't backed up. So, if you get a chance, it would be great if you could give me a call and leave a message or text to help me rebuild my contact list. Hope you are all enjoying summer! Aloha!

Degas, Bart Lindstrom, Tom Edgerton and Me...

First chance to paint since returning from the PSOA meeting, back in Tom Edgerton's class. Only two  students showed up, so I got to help set up the model.. One of my favorite Edgar Degas paintings came to mind while setting this up,.  Portait of Mademoiselle Malo...

Here is a quick study I did of this painting years ago (I think I spent an hour or two on it, in acrylics)....

This session, I took a run at some of Bart Lindstrom's recommendations. First, some very short preparatory sketches. From what I gather, he probably does them smaller and more about the values. I'll probably try that with more practice.

Then, a very fast little color study in the upper right corner of the canvas. He suggests doing several of these, and trying to incorporate all the major colors (ROYGBIV).  Definitely would like to explore this more!. So, when I started painting, it was with a plan. Although less of the over-all time was spent painting, it seems like it came farther along. Doubt I will ever be the type to meticulously draw out a perfect image and then color it in with layered glazes, but I enjoyed this somewhat more measured approach than my usual diving in with paint flying.We'll see how it turns out...

Two more sessions with this model, Happy Dance! Aloha!