Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A New Vision: Painting Portraits of Your Loved Ones

Have you often thought that you would like to learn how to paint a portrait? Have you experimented in painting portraits and were unhappy with the results? I've been there! Portraiture is one of the most challenging subjects to tackle, but when you know the basics, it's much easier. I'm excited to be teaching this course for beginners at the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek (Door County), Wisconsin, this summer. In this class you will achieve the basic skills needed to paint faces from photographs, and learn how to apply these skills to different genre, including animals, landscapes and still lifes. Come and join the fun! Click here for more information: http://www.peninsulaschoolofart.org/pd1420.html.

A New Vision: Painting Portraits of Your Loved Ones
at the Peninsula School of Art, Fish Creek, WI
August 14-16

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Playing with Paint

I finished the "re-work" of the painting I shared with you in my last blog post. I completely re-painted the entire 30 x 40 canvas so it would be consistent with what I wanted to achieve in the revised version. Some critics say that art should leave something to the imagination... perhaps "leave them guessing" might be a good way to put it. I've had some difficulty with this concept, and so I continue to examine new ways to create. I'm not saying that I don't like representational work. I absolutely love the work of Randy Ford (http://www.randyfordamericanartist.com/home.html) whose work is so photorealistic that it leaves me in awe. But I also love the soft beauty of an impressionist painting. I think this new work of mine is more along that line.

Psalm 27 - Revised version

When you compare it to the first painting I did, you can see the difference.

Psalm 27 - Original painting

The colors in the revised painting are more muted than in the original. The brush strokes are softer, thanks to the long-handled Rosemary brushes. And although it's still very much the same painting, I believe it leaves more to the imagination. I'm not making radical changes, but I do see the value in pushing myself to be more "uncomfortable" with my painting style. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.