'Portrait of Strength: Girl With Green Sweatshirt' (16" x 20" Oil Painting)

Even if this painting doesn't really look like the model, enjoyed doing it. Instructor Ismael Checo gave great feedback as always: Start faster, work looser, check values. 

I started from life, finished from a photo. 3 hours total.

Life Drawings: Raven at Chappaqua Performing Arts Center (CPAC)

The nude pose was 5 five minutes; the clothed poses were 10 and 20 minutes, respectively. 

Urban Landscape IV: 'Lunch Break" (12" x 12" Oil Painting)

Scenes of people just doing their thing is one of my favorite things to paint. The latest painting in my urban landscape series is a lady taking a lunch break outside the New York Public Library.

Figure Drawing Practice

Playing with some new materials - powdered charcoal, charcoal pencil. It didn't go well -- a struggle until I figure out how to use them.

I intended to create a dark background, and pull out the lights. Abandoned that idea halfway, and tried to salvage the drawing in sepia colored pencil. Will try again!

'Urban Landscape III': New York Public Library (20" x 20" Oil)

If you are from New York City, you will recognize this landmark.

Two lion statues -- 'Patience,' and 'Fortitude' -- grace the Fifth Avenue entrance of the New York Public Library. This one is Fortitude (I think)!

'Urban Landscape II': (20" x 20" Oil)

A recent Chinese fortune said, "Persistence and determination will be rewarded". I'll keep that one taped to my easel!

With that advice in mind, here's a crit of my 2nd urban landscape:

• The good: I'm finally working in a series. (It only took me 18 years!) And, I tried to be looser.
• The bad:  I really don't know how to harmonize colors! 

I'm really looking forward to an online class on color with Patti Mollica, which should help.

'Urban Landscape I': (20"x 20" Oil )

Here's my first painting of the New Year, for an urban landscape series I'm starting. My crit:

• Keep things looser. Too tight.
• Plan the composition -- a single focal point would make it much stronger. The images below show how that improves things.
  
  

This demonstrates the value of doing a thumbnail, trying out different compositions, before you begin.  Lesson learned!

"Playing the Ukelele": (10" x 10" Oil Painting)

Here's my friend Ted, playing his ukelele. It's a pretty good likeness, but painting from a photo has it's limitations. Bottom line: mission accomplished ... he liked it!

Study: Girl with Blue hair (Oil Painting, 16" x 20")

I wasn't going to post this, except that it's an interesting composition experiment. I turned my canvas sideways, instead of a typical portrait format. That's about all I can say!

Ink Drawing, with a Tree Branch

Here's a fun way to loosen up: grab a branch off a tree, a bottle of ink, and some paper, and draw with it!  That's was one exercise in David Fox's drawing workshop. He put a bunch of tree branches on the floor, gave us some ink, and away we went.

Standing 3 feet away, and having very little control over your line, shows you that being in control isn't as important as you think it is!

Study: Girl With Green Hat (16" x 20" Oil)

A few weeks back, I followed my painting teacher's advice: spend more time painting, less time on the initial drawing. Tried it again today.

In all honesty, I prefer to begin with a more solid drawing ... that's just my comfort zone. But in Ismael's class, I'll follow his advice, to see where it leads.

"Harlan": Horse Portrait (16" x 20" Pastel)

A commissioned portrait of a very handsome (and well-loved) horse named Harlan. My process:

• Take and edit photos 
• Do pen and ink sketches, to work out pose and colors (see below). I liked some of the sketches, so I also turned them into notecards. 
• Decide on a favorite (the owner chose the tan background).

This was done as a Christmas present. On Christmas morning, here's the feedback I received:

"Your painting is a HUGE hit!!!!! Nicole loves it, and also loves the cards!"

That was the goal:) Merry Christmas, Nicole!

Study: Young Girl (18" x 24" Oil Portrait)

"Paint looser! Less detail! You're making a painting, not an architectural drawing ..."

Ismael Checo says this to me every week. So today, I tried to be more spontaneous ... something completely different for me.

A good exercise -- less accurate, more painterly? And ... completely out of my comfort zone.

Study: 'Susan' (Seated Nude): 18" x 24" Oil

In Dean Fisher's class, we draw the model to get the proportions right, on a neutral mid tone -- a cool gray-violet -- before we begin painting. I like the drawing, even though hands, feet, and arms still need work.

Re: skin tones, Dean says to paint the shadows cooler, so the lights read warmer. His advice helped to create a stronger painting!

Study: "Asia": 3' x 5' (Acrylic)

We painted a lovely model (Asia) in David Fox's class today.

David's contemporary painting class is experimental. We use cheap paint (Rustoleum), work on cheap cardboard, and use cheap Home Depot brushes. And, we work fast, finishing a BIG painting in 2 hours.

I like today's brushwork, and the limited palette worked better than others I've done. Fun!

Painting exercise: 20-minute value study

Dean Fisher has us begin every figure painting class with a 20-minute study on a toned panel. Working fast, we define the light areas and let the toned panel stand in for the shadow/mid tones. An interesting exercise!

Figure Study, Week Two

For the second week on this figure, I spent most of my time trying to fix her legs (top image). Not sure it improved things! That's painting from a model for you -- even when the pose is marked with tape, it changes. Next week, I'll use color.

3 Studies, Same Model: 16" x 20" Oil

Today I  painted this model (Maeve) for the third time (far right).  Ismael says to paint looser ... but how? He suggested I study the figurative works of J. Sorolla.

2 Studies, Same model (16" x 20" Oil)

I painted today's model 6 months ago (left) and then again today (right). Ismael's observation is that I start out trying to be too precise. His advice is to begin with looser and more gestural brushwork.

Figure Study, Week One (16" x 20" Oil)

I started a new life painting class today, with Dean Fisher, at the Silvermine Art Center in CT.

He asked me to work monochromatically, and the drawing and initial block in got off to a good start. The same model will pose next week -- looking forward to finishing what I started.