Monday, September 7, 2009

They don't look that much alike now, do they?

Hmmm... not done yet! Every time I take a picture, I immediately see a line or a mark that needs to be nudged. But I've been having fun with this, painting for 3 days, working from a photo of a friend and a printout of a da Vinci painting. I learned so much from putting these two faces into my painting and working back and forth between them. It is so amazing to see what a tiny TINY bit of shadow does to change expression or likeness. I'm not really there yet; I haven't captured the expression I so liked about the picture of my friend, but the more I look, the more I begin to see what I could change that would move the picture closer to what I want.

Used a very limited palette of alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, titanium white and, in the latter stages, Indian yellow and burnt sienna. There were a few dabs of Van Dyck brown and yellow ochre in the early stages but I didn't like them. These (except the ochre and burnt sienna) were part of the sample set of "traditional" colors in the Golden "Open" series of acrylics. I really like working with this paint: it is buttery and slippy, stays open for quite a long time.

Things I learned from this painting (again): draw first; keep the palette limited; cool and white tones first; work up to warmer layers. Perhaps best: I find that painting somebody I know well and like thinking about has kept me interested in working on the painting long enough to get it beyond early stumbles. I still want to work on this painting and get it better!

3 comments:

Hayfella said...

Hello Tyler. Really love your blog. I'm gpoing to follow it, if you don't mind. Like you, I started drawing late (this year, at 53), so find your story - and work - very inspiring. Thank you.

HeartFire said...

Tyler, a very nice painting, like the large figure, her gesture, her hair... I found you on urban sketcher, and plan to go to the Vol Park sketchcrawl, first one for me...

Sarah said...

who knew this was happening, if it weren't for South America and you commenting on our blog I never would have found your wonderful blog. Let's catch up sometime soon in person! Hasta la...