GROWING AS AN ARTIST

It's a brand new year and a brand new set of opportunities!  I'm revved up to begin working on pieces for a number of shows coming up in the next few months.  As an artist, not only do I want to paint for show entries, I want to become a better more mature artist.  Knowing this, I want  to have a particular goal in mind for each artwork that I do.  It doesn't have to be a big one, just an improvement of one kind or another.  
Working in a variety of media, I want to have a consistent degree of competence in each one and when working on portraits I realized that I've painted in oils and pastels better than I have in acrylics.  Always wanting a challenge, I decided that the portraits I wanted to do for Roswell Fine Arts Alliance's Juried Show, People, Places and Thingamabobs, would be a great way to bring my acrylic painting up a notch.

Since, as artists, we are always curious about other artists' methods (and struggles) I thought I would share the process for this painting, entitled, Pensive. (You can see this one and the one below it in the show at 9100 Fouts Road.  The reception for People, Places and Thingamabobs is January 26 at 7:00p and is open to the public.  The show will run through March 18. (Gallery hours - Fridays (10 - 1) and Saturdays (10 - 4).

 After the initial block in above I realized the scarf was too large and the head not shaped correctly.  I made those adjustments, then blocked in the initial local colors and shadows.  I planned where to include lost and softened edges and how to incorporate the background color into the portrait.

 I gradually built up the flesh tones and made additional adjustments to the shape of the face. I filled in the necklace and continued to build up the color of the jewelry.

 At this point, I decided that I was ready to look carefully at each area and decide what was needed in terms of glazing.  I felt like the face needed more planes, the scarf needed more modeling and that the pendant on the necklace was distracting.  After adjusting the size of the nose, I added the final highlights and enhanced the background with multiple glazes using the dark  colors in the portrait.

Pensive  16 x 16 Acrylic on Canvas

Reverie  16 x 16 Acrylic on Canvas