I have added another layer of flesh with cool purples and warm reds. I have added some careful touches to the eyes and yet they will take a lot of work to be right. I hope to work more on the hair tomorrow. The light in this one is so real.

I am rushing to finish. I don’t have time to say much, I just wanted to let you seee the updated work. Hugs

In my photo library, these shots are together, side by side. I wish I could show you four or five like that. It really emphasizes the changes. The light shows brighter in person. The skin color needs some adjusting. The eyes will get form and lashes and shadows. Then the hair which is only suggested right now. I probably won’t rework the hair until the flesh is finished. Shalom, Diana

it may not seem like there is a change but the details are suggested. It is like placing a guide line. You may not want a bold mark but you can proceed better if you know what is ahead.

Following the patterns of light and shadow that I established I now begin to add the flesh coloring. I have applied a transparent half paste mixture of a flesh tone that will head in the right direction for this child’s skin color. I mix flake white and Naples yellow light to use to modify and mold the face. It is more like carving or molding clay than painting. I lay in the light, allowing the flesh tone to remain darker in the shadows. Later I will glaze the rosy tones and the darks. This achieves a depth and suppleness to the flesh. Oh, yes. I always tell my students that it will remain blotchy until several layers have been applied.

When an artist spends days making marks on canvas, that seems simple. No spectator sees or hears the decision making that goes on in their brain and neither could they have any concept of the visual study that must be done to capture likeness and spirit with paint, texture, color and value. After a days work I bring a portrait to my living room where I will spend several hours intermittently studying from across the room. I analyze. I search for necessary corrections. I virtually modify. I decide on improvements. Right now I am marveling at the illusion of soft fabric in the first painting layer of a sleeve. I am thinking and planning what can be the spotlight of a portrait; the eyes. During the time I have devoted to perfecting the portrait, I have come to understand the way light flows across the cheek, I have learned that the line of the mouth is critical to achieving a likeness and I have fallen in love with the message in the eyes. Every stroke is thoughtfully placed the same way an author or a poet creates a mood with words. The sense of accomplishment is fulfilling and it is the force that propels me to the next painting.

Here is where many get frustrated and discouraged and yet I tell my students to enjoy the part where they get to slowly build a masterpiece. A wonderful portrait is not laid down on canvas with a slash and dash formula. It takes a lot of patience and planning to make this look effortless. Today, after a long morning in the garden, thankfully with a strong willing helper, I came to my work in the studio. Upon careful examination and thought, I decided to lighten and brighten the background. I put some planning strokes and first layer of color into the sleeve and neckline of the dress. I even whited out the background to extend the front edge of the dress to make it hang in a more natural way. I carefully plotted out the curls. The artist must decide if she wants the hair impressionistic or more realistic. For this one I am going for realism. Then I studied the line, just the line where the lips touch, and refined the drawing. Don’t let the eyes fool you. Work on perfecting them touch by touch, stroke by stroke. Build them up layer by layer. They can be the most beautiful part of a portrait. Don’t use heavy dark paint in the beginning or you will loose your opportunity to correct and perfect them. This child has wonderful features and I am aiming to capture the look of wonder and mystery in her gaze. Happy painting. Diana

here I have mixed a half paste of transparent idea gell with titanium white and flake white. I paint it over the dried portrait, making sure it is covering all and deep into the linen pores. Then I take a soft fan brush and buff it until the portrait emerges. I want a good surface to work on. Then I use titanium full strength to reemphasize all the brightest areas and pay close attention to getting the likeness perfected. An artist must see forward and know what she is aiming for. I can’t work today because I have an eye appointment. Diana

Here is where I left off last week. If I have time today I will put another layer on the background to lighten it up and then I will apply a half paste of white to the flesh. This creates a simulation of skin over the structure of the face. Also, I will make corrections on the eyes and hair outline. Hope I get that all in today, but first I must send in digital entry to the Allied Artist’s show.

I will copy and paste if I am able to.
Ok, I didn’t get that screen shot cropped before I posted it, sorry. I just want to add some notes for you portrait artists. In this first photo I have transferred the drawing. I had several reference photos and I combined them without computer, that is, I just made the changes with pose to put together the light, position of face, body angle and hair. I had a lot of smudges from the transfer because of the heat today and condition of my painting mixture. I just used Windsor Newton artists oils and some extra linseed oil. I just used a dry brush to move the paint around and a quip or two to remove some. Then I applied the white straight to the canvas and made it thinner or heavier by manipulating the pressure and amount of paint. After I refined all the painted areas, I buffed it smooth with a fan brush. The paint dried way too fast in this heat. I will let it dry now and then I will probably apply a thin color was to get a background color started. I must adjust the eyes a little. They aren’t quite right. Till next time. Diana

Well, I have heard of Writer’s block and Artist’s Block but this is different.  Usually nothing interrupts my creative motion. Actually for me and my husband, this quarantine didn’t change much of our routine.   So here we are, with nothing but time on our hands. Even so, I find myself sitting at my easel not motivated to put any mark down.  I am feeling like nothing I want to paint is good enough.  So I find an area of the painting that isn’t too important and I do that for a couple of hours. Maybe the back ground or maybe an arm or a piece of clothing.  The next day, the same thing happens.  Of course, I am also having my schedule messed up by other people’s difficulties and I feel driven to make a lot of phone calls to encourage loved ones or help one of my kids with something. It just seems like months are going by without much accomplishment.  Even worse, when I look at the work I have finished, I am just not happy with it. This is not normal. Now, I am getting irate.  I am angry at the bad choices made by people in power and I am frustrated about my constitutional rights being trampled.  Not only that but I am horrified at what is going on with people of all races. We have lost our dignity and we have no trace of morals in the actions and events taking place.  It is good that every once in a while we learn of someone who has acted with human kindness and decency. Not only is violence and pestilence hurting people, now we are suffering depression too.  I am encouraged by those who are beginning to say NO to all this, standing up for reason and calmness in such a bad situation. I am also appalled by how far back we have fallen in our society.  Have we actually chosen lawlessness? I must put my faith in Yah, And I must count on the prevailing goodness of the majority.  

As things begin to open up, art events are again being planned.  I have made choices of pieces to show and Bruce and I have picked out framing material. Of course, I should have expected another wrench to be thrown into the works.  Here I am, working away on a portrait that I am not happy with, trying to get it finished in time for one of these shows and I get this impulse to start an impossible task!! There is an image of a huge rocky vista in Argentina where my daughter and her friend visited just before we learned about this virus.  My daughter and her friend are in the forefront, both looking amazing with this monumental landscape behind them.  I have TWO WEEKS, JUST TWO WEEKS, till the show entry date.  I cannot resist.  I go into marathon painting mode and my husband volunteers to cook supper every night for those two weeks.  I have always taken months to complete paintings.  But, yes, I got this done.  And entered. I will show you an image but the photos are on my ipad so I will have to put them up on another blog entry. Well, let me check to see if there is an image in my photo gallery on my computer.

This is 42 inches across. I hope people enjoy it.  It is entitled, ‘Argentina- Our Amazing Journey. It is not only about the journey to a new country, but about the amazing journey of these girls friendship.  It could be a movie.  Hugs and love to all my artist and art admirers friends. Shalom, Diana