Newborn/graphite

Just thought I'd post this too, since I'm making all of these posts. I did this almost a year ago around Christmas of my little newborn. I'll be keeping it selfishly for myself, but I've told my parents I'll do a watercolor version for them. Graphite on Lanaquarelle.

In-class work

Here's the latest in-class study, four three-hour sessions, blue light. She has a great face, doesn't she? Sorry about the glare in the photo.

the Ann Gale experiment

Justin assigned us two paintings after the unique style of Ann Gale (broken, pixelated messy, blotchy, broken brushstrokes). Here are the results...



This first one was fun, and although it is interesting enough, I don't think I'd ever paint like that. Something about it just doesn't work. It looks like I'm trying to be someone else, which, for this assignment, I was. For the next painting, I took what I learned from the first, put away the Ann Gale painting that I was looking at, and just painted. This is the result...

It works a lot better, doesn't it? I actually really like this one! I could see myself painting more like this. It harkens back to my impressionist days. What a great exercise!

comparisons

My assignment for class a few weeks ago was to redo the previous assignment and make it better. This image is a little distorted as you can tell, but WOW are they different! The one on the right is the original, done in muted colors (mostly glazes) over a grisaille (which was actually a drawing). For the one on the left, I didn't spend the time on a detailed drawing, but went straight into paint. The result was more vibrant colors, more painterly brushstrokes, but also a less accurate image. I'm still going to work on it, because I can't stand it being less than good. So maybe I'll do an update later...now for some sandpaper (;

Nora

This is a piece that I did recently for Justin Taylor's head painting class at BYU. It's of my daughter, Nora. Tried out Walter Rane's sandpaper technique and I like it! Used a well-developed drawing as a grisaille underneath, and then Justin's flesh combo over the top. I really like this technique, and I think I'll be doing a lot more of it from now on. His palette simplifies the process and, for me, brings about a more beautiful result. Thanks, Justin!