"Selena", 16x20"

Earlier this month, I had the great fortune of taking a workshop with Daniel Gehartz.  To say that there were a few "Aha Moments" during my time with him would be an understatement!  I especially came away with new understandings about turning form using temperature control and making my portraits more powerful through edge variation and value separation.  I know that's a lot to take in, so I will elaborate on these concepts more in future posts.

Selena came to model for us on the first day.  I experimented quite a bit with "warm and cool" temperatures in this piece.  Notice the warm red tones in the shadow side of her face.  That was new for me.  Dan encouraged us to really squint and see that these tones were actually happening, so it's OK to go ahead and put them in.  

I guess all this squinting and experimenting paid off.  Selena's grandma purchased the painting!

"Paulette", 12x16" Painting with Three Colors

Last week, I taught a two day workshop in Huntley, Illinois on Color.  We worked with a limited palette of red, yellow, and blue to really learn the properties of the colors and how to mix them effectively.  On the evening between the two classes, I went to open studio to paint.  All I had on my palette were my three colors, so I decided to put my theory to the test and paint only with what I had.  This portrait is the result.

Paulette is a student of mine who has just graduated from high school.  We will miss her so much when she leaves to go to college.  An accomplished artist who will go on to do fabulous things with her life.

Below, you can see the color wheel that we mixed in class.  (My students were MUCH neater than I was).  Three colors can go a long way, and can eliminate a lot of confusion along the way.  Once we have a really good understanding of the primary properties, we can go on to add other colors to our palette.

Laura, 12x16"

Laura is a very special student of mine.  She started in my teen class when she was in middle school, and now here we are, several years later, and she's become a wonderful artist and a lovely young lady on the brink of adulthood.  I look at "my kids" sometimes and wonder how it's possible that they've grown before my very eyes and I don't feel a moment older.  But I also feel very lucky for having known each of them.

A Sunny Day, 6x6"

This tiny portrait of a little girl in the sunlight was my entry into this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge.  I tried to keep this one very loose and impressionistic.  I often find this type of portrait more intriguing than a very detailed one.

The Open Door, 8x10" (Sold)

Every now and then, our plein air group goes to Volkening Heritage Farm to paint.  I was so lucky to stumble upon this scene of a young girl pausing in the doorway of a century-old barn in the middle of her very busy day. Naturally, she didn't linger there long.  Modern technology came to the rescue and I snapped a quick photo of her before she slipped away.

Daniella, 9x12"

Daniella is a young student at Mainstreet Art Centre who posed for our Open Studio last night.  I tried to keep things very soft on her face and features, then punched things up a bit with the palette knife at the very end.

The Student, 8"x10"

Theodora is a student with Greek heritage, which made her a joy to paint.  I mainly used a loaded palette knife for this piece, only using a brush to touch up the features where needed.  I tried to show restraint on this one, letting the piece have an impressionistic quality.  Proceeds from the sale of this painting will be donated to the American Red Cross for earthquake relief.