"Cassidy", A Portrait From Life

 "Cassidy", oil on linen,  9.5" x 15"

I've been away from the easel for a few weeks, and was feeling rusty when I went to my friend Bill's studio to paint Cassidy last night.  I decided to make things as simple as possible for myself, spending time on carefully drawing the underlying shapes and finding my darks and lights with a neutral color before adding any color.

I used Burnt Umber, thinned with a bit of mineral spirits to lay down the drawing and find my darks and lights.

Gradually, I built up the color in thin layers, using the initial drawing as my guide. Approaching the portrait in this measured step by step approach kept me on track and in control.  

Amy, 8x10"

I painted this very small portrait of Amy last night in Open Studio at Mainstreet. I've noticed that there has been some discussion on the web lately about the three color zones of the face, and it occurred to me that this painting might help to illustrate the concept. (Fine Arts Views)

The theory of the three zones is that the top third of the face will have a yellow orientation, the middle will be in the red zone, and the lowest third will be blue. If we think about the head as an egg shape in the light, then it stands to reason that the area closest to the light will be warmest, and therefore have a warm (perhaps yellowish) orientation. The middle of the face is fleshier and has more blood flowing under the surface, giving a reddish or pinkish color. Then, as the face turns away from the light in the lowest portion, the temperature often turns cooler, where you will find blue or greenish hues.

If you look at Amy above, you can see that her forehead and the top of her cheekbones have a warm yellowish hue, her cheeks are pinkish, and then her jaw area has cool blues and greens in the skin tone. This theory is very helpful when you are trying to vary the skin tones in a portrait, because it serves as a guide. Of course, rules are made to be broken, and only careful observation of the model will tell you what color to put where. But I hope this was a bit helpful!

Mexican Woman, 9x12"

This week I've been thinking a lot about the artists that I admire.  Today, I decided to try to paint a woman in the style of Jeffrey Watts.  Bold, simple strokes with loads of paint are what sets him apart from many portrait painters.  I had to stop myself from going back in and putting in more detail many times-- it goes against my nature, but I'll put my brushes down now and let it be.

To bid on this painting, click on Ann Feldman Mexican Woman.

Portrait of Inna, 10x14"

Inna is a student at Mainstreet who came in to model for us the other day.  After laying in a thin wash of paint with my brush, I took my palette knife to it to punch up the difference in my values and to lend the painting more of an impressionistic feel.  For the background, I brushed on a bright orange color and followed it up with mixtures of white, blue, and green applied with my palette knife.  This technique of layering complementary colors over a bright background allows the color to "sit behind" the model, which is always desirable!