First, Luke Lukasewich came over for a visit and a portrait session. This was the first time we'd met in person, and I felt very comfortable with him right away. Luke has a beautiful face to work from, too.
A quick sketch to begin with. These generally take 15-20 minutes:
 |
| graphite, conte, acrylic ink on gesso'd 50lb paper 9x12 inches |
Then an oil portrait. I think this one took about an hour. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the underdrawing, which looks like a zombie! Well, things often have to get ugly before they can be beautiful, right?
 |
| underpainting |
Hee hee. Finished work is indeed more appealing:
 |
| Portrait Of LL oil on canvas 9.5/10 x 14.5 inches |
I make a point of not asking my sitters to sit still, because sitting still is very unnatural for humans! So Luke and I were talking and he was moving around a bit and this portrait shows that, which I like very much.
Then, while I had the oil paints and brushes out, a friend who's been staying with us agreed to sit for me. He was a little more self-conscious and sat fairly still. Again, I made a quick sketch and an oil painting.
Then, while I had the oil paints and brushes out, a friend who's been staying with us agreed to sit for me. He was a little more self-conscious and sat fairly still. Again, I made a quick sketch and an oil painting.
 |
| pencil crayon and oil on gesso'd 50lb paper 9x12 inches |
 |
| preliminary sketch |
 |
| Portrait of RM oil on canvas 11 x 15 inches |
Lastly, a portrait of my best friend. He is not very comfortable being the centre of attention, which includes my artist gaze, so I very much appreciated his sitting for me. And he sat very still indeed!
 |
| conte on paper 9x12 inches |
 |
| Portrait of JP oil on paper 10 x 13.5 inches |
About 10 minutes into the oil painting he was asking if it was done yet! So I skipped trying to colour anything in and left it as more of a sketchy drawing kind of painting. It took maybe half an hour, maybe less time than that.
He remarked that it looks like a 12th-century illustration of a peasant in a field. Personally, I think it looks like a 12th-century illustration of a scholar discussing philosophy.
All today's portraits turned out rather nicely, in my opinion. A good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment