Step-by-step: ‘Self Portrait in Conversation’
May 1st, 2011 7 CommentsAre you reading this via email? Click through to my website for better image quality. GO ›
This little painting was my contribution to this year’s Portrait Society of America “6×9 Limited Size – Unlimited Talent” fundraiser. I have no idea what became of it at the event, but here’s how it was created:
The Concept
About the only time I get a good look at myself in a mirror is while brushing my teeth, and for awhile now I have thought that the particular shade of blue on my bathroom walls would make a nice background for a portrait. It even inspired my previous self portrait, which I thought was a very successful painting … except that the blue sheet that I used as a backdrop couldn’t quite replicate the color of those walls. So when I was asked to contribute to the Society’s fundraiser, it was a good excuse to try again. As for clothing, I spent most of this winter enveloped in knitted items, so the scarf & sweater were a natural choice.
I had actually wanted the painting to be entitled “Self Portrait Looking Up”, until I realized that this would have necessitated the use of like 4 mirrors instead of 2. The supplied 6″ x 9″ panel would also leave quite a bit of space below my head, so I decided to include my hand in the composition. The end result was this less-spiritually-significant-but-hopefully-still-visually-fascinating painting, “Self Portrait in Conversation” – painted mostly wet-into-wet over the course of two days (maybe 14 hours total).
My Setup
As you can see, painting a self portrait in profile requires at least two mirrors and a sink. I prefer to paint at a distance of 6 to 10 feet from my canvas, so this was tight quarters … but with a panel this small, it worked out fine. Whenever possible, I try to set up my paintings so that my subject and my canvas are illuminated by the same light source. I also toned my panel a couple of weeks in advance with a light transparent gray (raw umber + ultramarine blue).
Bonus points if you can name the CD that’s propping up my canvas :)
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Step 1
Recent Work
December 5th, 2010 1 Comment
I recently returned to painting for the first time in quite awhile, having spent the Summer and most of the Fall hard at work on my mother’s house (which is also sorely in need of a blog update). It felt great to be back at the easel, and I especially enjoyed getting my money’s worth out of a couple of friendly roses I found at Wegman’s!
Each of these little pictures was painted in a single day from life, which generally included several hours of tinkering back in the studio after the light had faded. I also finally remembered to take some photos along the way, so I’ll be posting a step-by-step demonstration of the White Rose whenever time allows….
In the meantime, these paintings can all be seen and/or purchased at Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts in Binghamton, NY:
An Interesting Commission
July 8th, 2010 1 Comment
This painting was created over two days during my most recent portrait adventure in England, and it represents my first commission to paint a house. Crockham Grange is the home of Randolph and Catherine Churchill, and I’m happy with how it translated into paint.
Preparations
Although I had already visited Randolph and Catherine several times before, I didn’t know their property well enough to approach this painting with a pre-made composition in my head. So I flew to England with three sets of stretcher bars – 14”, 18”, and 24”, and on my first night in Kent I stretched a 14” x 24” canvas and toned it lightly with raw umber and ultramarine blue.
Day 1
I started this painting in late morning two days later, and I began with an umber block-in to avoid the sorts of drawing errors which can occur when I just dive in with color. 14” x 24” is larger than most of my alla prima work, and this is a fairly dense composition. Plus the morning sun shone from behind the house (throwing the whole front face into shadow), so I felt good about just pushing around brown shapes while I waited for the sun to move:
Churchills Young and Old
July 8th, 2010 Add commentI recently got back from a short trip to England to deliver a couple of special commissions to the home of Randolph and Catherine Churchill. All of my work in England has stemmed from a meeting with Minnie S. Churchill several years back, who was on tour promoting a book about Winston Churchill’s adventures in plein air painting, and on this trip I had the pleasure of painting not one but two Winstons! In many ways the trip marked the closing of a cycle for me, and I’m very grateful for the results.
