My students ask, ‘How do you know what to do?’ I tell them, ‘Each image will tell you what it needs!’ This is a memorial portrait and I feel this image telling me exactly what it needs. You can call this God, the akashic record, intuition, whatever. But even songs have been written about it. Here eyes are looking off to my right but, no matter how I perfect the paint, she looks at me! I am honored, but even more, I am pleased to be doing this painting. I would love to finish it soon but I won’t rush it. Diana

Sometimes life gets hectic so I may think I have posted all the photos of each day’s work but then I realize, I worked daily without taking a photo! Darn! If you scroll back, you will finally come to the photo I took about three fourths of the way through. I was really surprised to look through my photos and they weren’t here! Sorry. Now I will upload the finished portrait so you can see that. Hugs you you all, G Gma.

William Adolph Bouguereau knew how to paint the human figure and beautiful flesh tones. Not just color, but radiance, light, plush, glowing, moist, flushed. I have never before painted a master copy but thought I should do this type of study before I cannot! My tremor is much worse and some days I just cannot accomplish what I see in my mind. Plus the fact that getting the cataracts removed makes it so very difficult for me as an artist. I’m told that I can no longer focus so why then does my vision go out of focus? Well, enough about that. I want to tell you that in all honesty, most of this project was not pleasant for me. I did enjoy the drawing, the grisaille, the many layers that brought this painting to my time and my reality. What I did not enjoy was this; when painting my own work, I place the marks with an artistic abandon but when making a copy where I am trying my best to stay true to the original, I found myself constrained to someone else’s choices. I was no longer placing the paint with instinct but instead with a rigid pattern. None the less, I am impressed by the beauty envisioned by Bouguereau and satisfied, even pleased with my ability to reproduce his vision. I am grateful. If you or someone you know would like to purchase this Master Copy please contact me by email at brucendiana@verizon.net.

h

This is my recent painting. I am doing this for a friend who is dear to me. I am very focused in order to fulfill my friend’s years long wish. I want the likeness and inner spirit to shine. It is not usual to have a perfect likeness in every stage. This is the reason I usually don’t show the unfinished painting to the family. I will be happy to bring joy to my friend.

I’m sorry I have not posted for a while. Sometimes life is just too hectic. I have been working on this sketch for weeks. This likeness is so important. Yesterday I transferred the image to linen canvas. Today I am establishing the brights. As always, corrections, corrections, corrections! One of our five will be here this evening so I won’t have any Lee-way in my time. I must go slow and be as precise as possible. See you next time, Diana

Ever since I had the cataract surgery I have had trouble with seeing well to do my art. Today I became clearly aware that my eyes were going out of focus. That is not supposed to happen because I was told the new lens stays focused. Well, I can tell this is causing a problem. It is hard to get these things resolved because of scheduling and time between appointments and wait times for glasses. I keep struggling to do good work but struggle is the correct word. Here is some of the detail work just beginning. It is fun to see more color coming in to the image. As soon as it is really dry I will add two or more layers of flesh and then glazing on top with highlights. I have so many things planned and am just so eager to get them started. I hope you are all enjoying your artistic efforts. Shalom, Diana

The challenge with a master copy is that I must put marks where the master put them! I didn’t think this could be so much more challenging than when I put marks where I decide! Believe me, It is! I must say, Bouguereau knew how to pose his subject, not only to be a good composition, but also to compel the viewer to pay attention, to look closely. I want this to be ready for an upcoming show in Ligonier. So far, the date has not been set. I have several things I am trying to finish because others are calling me. Till next time, Diana

Today I worked on the Bouguereau master copy and the portrait of my great granddaughter. Both are at the stage where every mark is important. This is no longer an underpainting. I must be certain of having enough time so that when I begin, I will be able to concentrate and not rush. When achieving a likeness, the slightest move as you mark the canvas determines success or not. Of course, sometimes you can lift a mark and do it again. I just want to emphasize that a spontaneous flourish usually looks better than a mark which you have labored over. Take a deep breath and then hit the target. I hope you are enjoying this Bouguereau as much as I am. It is as though this little girl has appeared again in a different century. I have to admit, Bouguereau’s images are truly compelling.
Shalom, Diana

Last week I did not get any time in the studio. Today, about three hours improving the flesh. This is not only a matter of color, but more about depth, that quality of realism that makes the viewer feel like they are looking at a live human. In the next layer, I will probably begin to get in the pinks and brighten the brights more. I have been applying a new technique for the darks. This entailed predominantly using two shade of flesh from the beginning rather than just darkening the shadows with any of the many darks I have tried. I was specifically trying to avoid the ugly skeletal ex ray effect when photographing. That led me to think more about how to accomplish the darks without that problem. For now, I am pleased. Shalom, Diana

Today I darkened the background. I want to add some light off the left shoulder but it just wouldn’t come out right. I will wait until it dries and the scumble it on. So then I remodeled some of the darker areas of hair where it almost gets lost in the background. Then I refined the eyes and mouth line and under the chin. If I decide to work more, I can always model the shapes in the blouse, but, I think If I do more today, I will work on a different painting.

if you look this one up, it can be hard to find. Yesterday I viewed a group of Bouguereau paintings on line. This one was not among them. It is called ‘At the foot of the Cliff.’ The images you find may all look different, depending on the pixel count and who is posting.

As with most artists and with most subjects, sometimes I like what I see, other times I am more critical. I do want this to be a best effort. Have a great last few days of warm weather. I am going to go outside for a while and soak up the sunshine. Diana

This image looks so simple but every time I look at it I see something so minute that this artist did daily. What I mean is; we look and see a complete feature, the hair, the eyes, the skin, the blouse. Bouguereau painted such amazing detail. He painted it so perfectly that it is so true that we only notice it if we are looking closely. Every fly away hair, the perfect skin, light, shadow, lace. Well, if you are so fortunate to be able to view an original, don’t just view it from afar. Walk up as close as permitted and look at how precise his brushstrokes. Observe the skin tones and how supple they are. See how real and amazing his figures are. You can almost see them breathing. I am speechless. Diana

When people look at a portrait, they may think it looks simple. This image is at the stage where I always realize how complicated it is. I did a demonstration for my class last week to show them how to proceed with the flesh. The early layers are easy. You put on the flesh color mixed with a transparentizer and then you sculpt in the light with white or Naples yellow or whatever mixture the skin tones require. Do this as many times as necessary. BUT, then, after you establish a deep surface that looks like flesh, that is when you must begin the ‘detailing’. The artist knows what he/she wants. The question now becomes, ‘How do we get there?’ It is here at this point that the teaching becomes more difficult. How does one teach instinct or even the willingness to risk. It feels like a risk when you are not sure what mark to make, but with the method we are using, indirect method, it is not really all that risky. I tell my students that portrait painting is the art of ‘correcting, correcting, correcting!’ I will continue making marks and correcting on this portrait until, like Penochio, she comes alive. Her two brothers made it, I hope she is just as good! Till next time! Diana

I decided to work on my master copy of the Bouguereau portrait, At the Foot of the Cliff. After establishing the image in darks and brights, I mix lead white and Titanium with a transparentizer that is no longer available. I apply a layer of this half paste and work it into the pores of the canvas. Next, I work it with a soft but firm fan brush in order to remove all but a film of white. I then apply some adjustments where needed with the same half paste only I apply it carefully in a way that brightens and corrects. I also, very carefully, use a cotton swab or brush to lift off more white where more dark should remain or also to correct in areas where needed. Then I buff to a high sheen. This will be the surface where I will begin to add color by painting and glazing. I clean my brushes and cook supper. Hope your painting brings you joy. Shalom, Diana

I am thankful for the years of experience I have accumulated but it sure cramps my style when I have so much to do! I’m bringing in all my orchids which involves scrubbing each one to get the mealy bugs under control. I have had some of these since around 2000 and this critter found them about three years ago. So there is that. Plus many other projects that I won’t bother you with. This painting has been on hold all summer so I am to fit it back into the schedule.

Now my screen won’t let me make a correction, I will print the sentence again. This painting has been on hold all summer so I am trying to fit it back into the schedule. My reference image is not clear so I need to get the fingers correct. In this photo you may be able to see where I have worked on this. Also, I made minute, but important corrections on the lips and nose and around the chin and cheek. Of course this will all be structure under the many layers of transparent flesh that will be applied. I may post again today if I get any work done on my great granddaughters portrait,(see previous images). Till then, Shalom, Diana

TAKE NOTE, CORRECTIONS!

I could not get the title to load, so I printed it in caps. My subject that I want you to hear is simple. We all make mistakes. If you are painting a portrait, part of your daily routine should be to scan your work and become aware of what you should modify, change, correct. If my painting is not too large, I carry it downstairs so that I can scan it repeatedly as I rest in the evening. In this image I became aware that as I worked and became tired, my mind became less effective in translating my image onto the canvas in the correct dimensional increase. To put it simply, I painted the part in her hair the width of the original image instead of the broader version of the larger canvas. At the end of the work session I recognized that I was having difficulty with this size reference when painting the shadows and folds in the blouse. At the time, I had not discovered the same problem with the hair part. That showed up as I scanned it in the evening. I am just trying to explain that as we paint on a portrait, our brain begins to homogenize everything. It sort of falls asleep, becoming less able to catch the tiny nuances of detail. It is essential that we understand and continually be on guard for this in order to keep ourselves more alert to this creeping into our work. It may seem that this is no big deal, but I am requesting that you place it high on your daily routine. The more you practice this discipline, the less you will need it. Keep in mind that a lot of our work looks great when we finish it and we are content to call it done. Then, after not observing it for hours on end, we see it and immediately we notice a glaring mistake. Have you heard of the artist in ancient times who finished a sculpture of a magnificent horse. Then he committed suicide because he had sculpted five legs.! So, hear my words and begin to adapt to this brain feature that may have you fooled! Happy painting, Diana

I worked on the brights in her face and began some detail in blouse. I will do more on the blouse, then let it dry before applying a transparent half paste on the flesh. Once I buff that I will again increase the brights in her face where needed. I can probably finish the blouse but prefer to work on the flesh colors until they are done so as not to constantly be cleaning flesh color off the white blouse. I feel like she is appearing on my canvas out of centuries past!

Today I finally stumbled on a post of Bouguereau’s paintings that gave the name of this one. I hope to show this in the near future but I will include ‘Master Copy’ in the title. I am surprised at how excited I am to be painting something that is not my design. It certainly is a learning experience. Today I darkened the background and this is only the first of several glazes. It is necessary to get this background established for several reasons. Mostly, it is needed to balance the values in the rest of the painting. Also, this dark needs to be under or behind the model. But, I had to place a lot of the brighter hair and blouse before I began. These will preserve the drawing even though I might have to paint over them. I then found my way around the maze of hair, to establish light, dark, curl, depth and fly away hairs. After this dries thoroughly I will put a halfpaste over all the flesh and the blouse as well. I am pleased to be using a birch ply, sealed with a zinzer conservative sealant, and with a linen surface glued with an archival glue. I often do this because it is easier than using stretched lined and I can have the ply cut to fit a frame that may not be a standard size. Any pieces that are left, can be made into small canvasses as well.
Class tomorrow, so I better get some sleep. Hugs, Diana

He surely knew hair. As I attempted to get the grisaille laid in I found that even a strand of hair has been painted with the knowledge that this strand consists of multiple hairs and they have specific directions and light. I am frazzled.
Please share. I would like to find the right buyer for this Master Copy. I will not let it go to just any art lover but to someone who knows and appreciates The Master, William Adolphe Bouguereau. And she won’t be available until after my show in Ligonier. This is truly a joy!
Diana

When painting portraits it is often important to observe and follow light patterns; the directions the light flows across the form. When I can detect a pattern, I try to apply that same shape of ‘bright’ to the painting. It is this procedure which helps to make the feature seem three dimensional on a flat canvas. I call this SCULPTING the image. I use this process in the grisaille and then I repeat the patterns in the flesh layers as well.

In attempting my first master copy I have already recognized that Bouguereau did, in fact, understand hair. He knew how each strand composed a curl or braid, how it caught the light and how to transpose all that information onto the canvas with oil pigments! He was a master, indeed!

You can see already that the flesh is evening out and the three dimensionality is progressing. I won’t say much about this except that I am using a mixture of purples mixed with flesh for her shadows. She has a lot of pinks in her skin. The shadows are deep but not blackish. I will need to spend a lot of time completing several paintings so they can be ready for an upcoming exhibition. More about that later.
Please consider checking out a unique tool that I designed for myself and anyone who uses a grid for any reason. If you want to see more about this, go to Diana’s grid tool on YouTube and check an earlier post where I describe it thoroughly. Every one who has this is very happy with the results they get. Till later, Diana

Everyone is busy, I know. But sometimes it seems like I have a calendar gremlin who keeps filling up all the dates on my schedule. Today is the first I have seriously painted in weeks. Just to fill you in, we are expecting house guests in February. This is our beloved AFSDaughter from Sardegnia whom we have not seen since her wedding. She is coming with her husband and two teen boys!! What a joy! But, I have been filling my tiny house with art supplies and canvasses and frames. Also, I hoarded all the fabric I could get at cheap prices when I saw how the fabric or sewing market was going. The first thing I had to do before organizing all that was to sell all the vintage clothing I kept because I knew its value. I got that out of here first and now everything is moving along to be able have a wonderful visit. And, plus, I have been motivated to get my house in order so the girls will not have so much to deal with when the time comes.
yesterday was tough because we attended a visitation for a great friend who is gone too soon. He was good to everyone and all those people will feel his absence.

I want to remind all you artists, especially local or nearby, to please pull up the instruction video for my grid tool to see how helpful it is for increasing the size of your work and also getting a better likeness. Pull it up by searching ‘Diana’s Grid Tool’ Contact me by email at brucendiana@verizon.net. Then I will give you my phone number and we can make arrangements for you to pick it up.
check out the photo above to see the first layer of flesh and some work on the curls. This layer always looks blotchy but it will even out as always. So for now, Shalom. Diana

Finally, I have DIANA’S GRID TOOL ready to offer to local artists, teachers and draftsmen. I am going to download my sale sheet where you can see all the specifics. I hope you will find this tool as useful as I have. Most sincerely, Diana Let me try to put the document on the next post.

Community Art Center Johnstown, PA. This is a memorial Exhibit set up by two women so their ideals of representational or figurative art could continue to be aplauded. Their memorial gifts and plans for this event make possible for up to four very generous awards selected by a qualified juror. This year I reached my goal of being chosen for the top award. But the most memorable reward is the reception that this painting and the other that was jurored in received during the evening. I was told that other visitors since the show was hung have also spoken highly about the detail and emotion portrayed in these subjects. I share this now with you. Thank you all for following my blog and hopefully enjoying and learning as we go along. Shalom, Diana