Interior Nocturne

hot off the easel. This painting was a great learning process for me, exploring many different ways of applying paint than what I'm used to. I didn't play anything safe with this one; some layers started out by nearly obliterating the ones below. Usually if something is working in a painting I leave it alone in fear of ruining it, but with this painting I took the opportunity to experiment. The dimensions changed from the original canvas, and there was even a time when the laptop was painted out just to see what it did to the composition!

"Interior Nocturne". 30x45". Oil on canvas.

 Detail:

Oh Matthew

You so purdy.

"Matthew". 8x11". Oil on sized paper ( sketchbook entry)

Whoops.

I accidentally stepped on this painting; right on the face too. How it survived I don't know. I feel as I've gotten better at painting I've gotten worse at photographing said paintings...

This study was done with a relatively limited palette: Ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and white. The darks are a mixture of the sienna and ultramarine. If you could only by 4 tubes of paint I would suggest these. Take out the yellow ochre if you can only buy 3.

After Vermeer's " Girl With a Pearl Earring". Approximately 8x10. Oil on sized watercolor paper ( sketchbook entry)

It's not painting if you're not using your left hand

This is for a 5 week painting for Color and the painted image. I've chosen to depict an interior nocturne, if you can call it that. I have a lot that I want to do with this image, specifically to do everything differently than I usually do. I've made drawing errors in one layer only to fix them in another and let the ghost of the " wrong" parts show through. Archival application of paint and traditional fat over lean rules will be discarded in favor of the final effect ( although I haven't gone too crazy yet). Most notably however, is so far I've only painted with my left, non dominant hand. It's always been an irrational fear of mine, to lose my right hand, and this painting is allowing me to see what can be done with - very - limited dexterity. I have to attack my canvas any way possible to get the right edges and value shapes, and it makes for a surprisingly beautiful surface. Here was an early state of the image:

And here it is with a glaze of burnt sienna over the entire thing and modeled more completely. I preferred the color scheme of the previous state, but I'm not keeping anything in this image sacred. I've always taken safe routes in painting by not harming anything that is currently working, but here i'm making a point to obliterate it. It's an exciting feeling when you've lost a part of the image that will never be exactly the same and all you can do is search for a better state.

I'm thinking of taking the laptop out completely.

Anatomy studies: Facial muscles

The muscles of the face are one part of the human anatomy I haven't spent much time on. Will be doing more for portrait drawing class. All of the mixed media is making my sketchbook look pretty.

facial anatomy study. 8x11. Ink, watercolor, and gouache on paper.

Giovanni Boldini: The king of Swish

I think Boldini kind of gets overshadowed by Sargent as far as late 19th century painters go, but he was successful during his day and he definitely displayed a bit of expression and motion that even Sargent didn't really go to. In my opinion at least. Here's a study:

Study after Boldini. 8x11. Sketchbook entry ( oil on sized watercolor paper)

A nocturne and a master study

After a night photography shoot, there was one particular picture of horrible quality, but despite it's homely look I knew I could make a decent painting out of it. I used it for a homework exercise for a class: Color and the painted image, where roughly half of the composition was to be exclusively organic pigments and the other, inorganic. Due to the complex nature of a wide array of pigments, thickness, and transparency it goes without saying it looks better in person ( I try not to pull that card too often).

"Hill and Vines". 9x12". Oil on canvas board.

Another assignment, this time for advanced portrait drawing. Sargent has been a major source of inspiration recently, and his Head of a Capri girl is one of select number of paintings that resonate with me deeply.

After Sargent's Head of a Capri Girl. 8x11. Sketchbook entry ( sized watercolor paper)