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Just a little work

Our visitors are in Ohio with my daughter so I got in a little work. Here you see I add some flesh tone.
I modify the color with white and Naples yellow light, being sure to sculpt the features as I move along the surface
Don’t worry if it still looks blotchy and unnatural. This will all improve with each layer.
Keep in mind, my posts will be sporadic while our loved ones are visiting and also during some medical procedures. Even this post is rushed, sorry.
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A forty year wait

There will be some time between posts for a while, please forgive the delay. Just use the time to practice the steps so far demonstrated. I am expecting a very dear visitor whom I have not seen in a lifetime. An event in her life caused her to loose all her contacts and we could never find her in all that time. She is coming with her adult daughter and I am not sure how much time she will be able to spend with us. I have been racing to get some work ready and entered in shows. I have not had the drive to work passionately since my sister in law’s illness and death and again last week a monumental Friend died. I am deeply grieved.

Even so, I am working many hours a day trying to get these works ready in time. First, I will show you the latest work on my grand daughter’ painting.

Even though I have done some detail on eyes, there are still many layers of flesh to perfect the skin tone and correct the likeness. Now I am going to show you a portrait of her that she hates. I will give you more info.
I tell my students, if it doesn’t look right, it is just not finished yet. This is a good example. I have repainted and over layered so many times. But nothing helped my dear Grand daughter like this. I even changed the hair so that it went from medium to long ringlets down in front of her shirt. It hung on my studio wall for over a year and finally I repainted another layer. Still that didn’t help so I was ready to call it a failure. I just couldn’t do that. I said to myself, it just isn’t finished yet! I began a process of repairing by removing the hair over her shirt. I have no idea if I can fix it but I am going to give it my best try.
well, keep in mind, I won’t be checking in for up to a month and then Bruce will have another surgery, which could be quite serious. Don’t give up on me. I will get back as soon as I can. Shalom.
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A note fyi

Actually, this is a note to myself as well. Here is an image of Sam which I have done totally with a sketch I made with a graph. I knew it Should be almost exact but something didn’t seem right. I used a piece of tracing paper to double check the image. I positioned the tracing image and used a flesh colored paint to transfer the second image over the first. As you can see, if you look closely, the only thing off is the bottom of the ears and the bottom left side of face. I took another photo after touching up the under layer. Now, with just those minute tweaks, this likeness should be good.
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Today’s layer

Each layer adds dimension, likeness and depth of color. The artist must understand that the build up of these transparent layers is what creates supple and alive looking flesh. We must learn how to build slowly. Instead of thinking of it as having patience, I am thankful I do not have to perfect the portrait the first pass. Often a subject has blues and greens and yellows in their skin or reflected off the skin surface. It takes skill and experience to know when and how to use these colors. Here, my granddaughter presents her lovely ivory and blush tones. There is some hint of yellow in the forehead but not much. When today’s pass is dry, I will take a small amount of the flesh tone, I will add a touch of quinacradone magenta and an equal portion of gel with maybe a drop of linseed oil. These will be mixed well with a pallet knife and spread in an even layer over the flesh. Now, I use a soft fan or mop brush to buff this surface to a sheen. Next, I touch my soft sable brush to the yellow ochre and gently apply a little where I think it should be. Now I use my white to redo the brights. This picks up the other colors and draws them over the flesh in minute amounts. You will begin to see your flesh colors coming to the hue you are looking for. It is better to build slowly to these rich tones than to be startled by a heavy application of color that will never look natural.
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A second thought for today.

Yes, I have a method, so, you would think this process would follow along the routine steps and I would never get lost. WRONG! Perhaps I just forget something, or maybe I decide to skip a step, or maybe something just doesn’t seem right. I have messed up so badly at times that my only option is to call the mess I have an under painting and drop back to square one. Then again, maybe I don’t know why something isn’t right. What I want you to think about and understand is that you must trust your ability. And, I believe in a higher power and I ask YAH to intervene. This gets me on the right track and I come to understand what move to make next. Believe me, if your flesh tone looks blotchy, do another layer and then another. Each time you paint this face, you get to know it better. What you may not realize is that your brain is learning how to paint suppleness into the skin. You don’t need a teacher except to help the process move along more quickly. What your brain needs is failure and experience. This is how we were meant to learn. Get the point I am making here, please. Your brain is gaining mastery as you try to figure this out. How else could I have learned. I looked and I tried and failed and began to recognize my own improvement. Don’t give up. I am grateful I kept trying.

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Refuse to become frustrated.

When working with portraits, it often happens that something doesn’t work the way we want it to. I could name a million examples but let’s just take an obvious one. My students call certain things I say, ‘Dianaisms’. For instance I say, ‘If you get the line of the mouth correct, you capture the likeness.’ Well, that line of the mouth is an illusive feature. If the artist gets this a shade wrong in size, shape or color, it can ruin everything. Artists, no matter what mark you put on canvas, be prepared to adjust it. Study these features thoroughly, not just once, but over and over again. If you cannot make it right while the paint is wet, then let it dry. This way, if you are not happy with the results, wipe them away and try again. Trust your vision, that of your eyes and your heart. Do your best to please your sitter but remember that the artist creates. We are not cameras. We are attempting to show others the beauty that we see. One of the great portrait masters was eventually tired of criticism from his clients. He stated that he would rather paint dogs!
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Beginning the flesh layers

I paint portraits in a different way. I don’t use color strings. I mix a flesh tone in a medium range but it actually looks sort of like the color of a Teracota pot, then I dilute it with Grumbacher Gel to make it transparent. Apply it thinly but evenly over a section of flesh and then sculpt with white to achieve the brights as you did in the first part. This layer always looks blotchy so don’t worry about it being perfect. Every layer will improve the surface and the skin will look supple and alive. Try to improve the likeness with each pass. Keep in mind that light and it’s effects will be the best addition to a good portrait. Without the light, you cannot see the shape or color or expression.
Now that the likeness is more established, I will begin to add darks to bring out some of the details such as wrinkles in fabric, deep bends in body, for instance elbow and fingers, and I will plot all the darks of the hair and the pup’s fur.
Take notice that I have not painted in the eye lashes with thick dark paint. Later when the portrait is almost complete, I will use a transparent dark for the lashes. I always recommend using a transparent dark even for very dark lashes. It just helps make them seem more natural.
People often ask how soon till the portrait is finished? It would take a very long time to list all the work that must still be completed. No one gets it. A puzzle can only be put together one piece at a time and a portrait is sort of like that. Today, I can only put in the next piece or two. How can I ever let you peek into my artistic mind and let you see what must still happen. If I sew a dress, I can show you the pattern, the fabric and explain the steps of putting it together. It is similar with a house or a piece of furniture. But how can a sculptor tell you how to find a body inside the stone? I might be able to tell you the basic steps to a portrait but never explain the finesse necessary to make it a masterpiece!
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Perfecting the image

I learned a long time ago to spend a lot of time studying the drawing in the early stages of the painting because the adjustments and corrections are easier to make here than later. See if you can tell that the left eye as we look at it, in the earlier images,is too small. I had to study carefully to deterrmine how much change was necessary. It is also very important to get the smile correct as well, in order to capture the likeness. Now these features are the way they should be. For these changes I worked on the dry grisaille underpainting and I also switched from the neutral gray color to the flesh tone. Later there will be several layers of flesh and glazes of pinks or appropriate colors for the person’s skin tones.
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Painting other areas

Be sure to scroll down to see the beginning of today’s work.
When you come to a place where you cannot do more on an area, often you can go to another area of the painting if it won’t cause difficulty with the work you have just completed. Take notice of the background color in the area of the pup’s ears. The background color must be behind all those separated strands of fur but I certainly don’t want to paint between each strand. If I choose to do this background before the final layer of fur is painted, I can paint right over everything. Then, later, when I apply the last top coat, it will look more three dimensional and the fur will look real! Also observe carefully that I have done more adjustments on the features and skin texture. I tell my students, ‘portrait painting is the art of constantly making corrections.’
When I come back to this in a few days, I will probably add the first layer on the eyes, some color on the clothes, the darks on the hair and the fur and then I will start adding the many layers of flesh tone. A painting this size is often priced beginning at $25,000. Is it any wonder?
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Beginning again, so it seems.

Yes, once again I use full strength white to enhance the features and brights. Each time I put a layer over another, I make small corrections. It is posssible to do these layers wet but more often it is best to let the current layer dry completely before adding the next one.
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Look carefully, don’t overlook the small stuff.

Look at the previous photo from yesterday. On this photo, the flesh has been covered again with the halfpaste mixture, half titanium or flake white and half Grumbacher gel. This obscures the features we hilighted yesterday but, when we buff it well with a soft but firm fan brush, the features appear again, only now they have a layer of skin. These steps are important to achieving a deep and supple skin tone and texture.

Look

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Tiny refinements

I have worked at least two hours making minute adjustments to the value of skin tone, brights and darks, and to areas that define likeness. I will do this over and over again until I am satisfied that the likeness is good.
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Half paste and brights

Never begin this step if the layer before it is not totally dry!!!
Here is where the likeness, the spirit and the mood are begun to be captured. This is an important and exciting stage of portrait painting. You must be able to see light patterns and shadow patterns as well. The more refined your ability to paint these patterns, the more precise your work will be. I do not seek to achieve photo realism but I do see beauty in and appreciate realism.
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First the darks, then the brights.

Here is a close up of the transfer of sketch to canvas that I did yesterday. You can see places where I first marked a shadow with only a scribble, just enough to indicate where a structure of the face is. I then used a small sable brush to move that scribble until it becomes a smudge which now looks more like a structural shape than a scribble. It is alright to dip into the same neutral paint in order to refine what you are putting on the canvas. Just be sure to understand that these marks are going to end up under other layers of paint. They will act like a skeleton to form the features which describe a specific person. Today, I could darken some other features so they don’t get obscured by the next layers but I think I will have enough control if I leave them the way they are right now and instead I will work on the brights. When I teach, I like to have students pull out the brightest brights first. Since I am demonstrating my work and actually not following the beginner process, I will start with a half paste and then do the brights. Hopefully, I will get an image which shows the process well. You need to know that I do not use most of the usual mediums. I use Grumbacher Gel, a transparentizer. I will mix flake white (or Titanium) together half and half to make a half paste. Today I want this more transparent so I will use more gel. Now I use a medium sized brush to cover all the flesh area. When this is finished, I buff it to a smooth and glossy surface with a good, soft but firm, fan brush.
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Transferring the sketch

Here you see a piece of tracing paper that also shows the application of the same color paint as previously used to coat the canvas. Remember, the canvas is now a little lighter because it was wiped down to a medium value. I apply the paint with the pallet knife in the same manner but now I use a soft brush to spread it. If too much paint is left on this tracing paper there will be smudges and spots of paint all over the sketch. It takes a little practice to get it right. In the next photo you will see how I place this paint side down and trace the image onto the canvas.
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The sketch

Graphing a sketch

If you have drawn a small sketch and want the painting to be larger, or if you have a small photo and want to make a larger sketch to paint, then you should learn how to do a graph or grid for this purpose. You can find videos and explanations of how to do this on the internet. I will tell you the basics. Always start by finding the center. Find the middle from the long and short sides and draw a straight line both ways on the photo or sketch. Where they cross will be the center. Precisely measure one inch from these lines and add more lines in a checkerboard fashion, being sure to always double check the measurements. Now decide how big you want your final painting to be and make the distance between the lines increase by the correct amount. For instance, if your sketch is 8×10 and you want your painting to be 16×20, then the distance from one line to the other will be two inches instead of the one inch you started with. You can see that I also connect the diagonals too.

Now look at your original photo or sketch. Starting with any feature, draw on the larger graph a mark in a square or triangle that exactly matches the smaller one, just remember to make it the increased size. If you are careful to follow the pattern and not confuse the placement of your marks, then you proportions and likeness should be good.

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Wiping down the under coat.

I used paper towels to wipe the paint until it is fairly even and the degree of value, light or dark, that I choose. As you do more, you will learn what you like best and also you will become familiar with the results each value and color will produce as you proceed through the portrait.
next we will use the same paint mixture, burnt umber and French ultramarine blue, to transfer the sketch. In my next blog I will talk about the sketch, a little about how I use a grid to achieve correct drawing, and about the transfer process. Keep in mind, all the colors and methods can be modified. I don’t give you rules, only helpful suggestions.
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Getting back to work. I won’t bother you with the details except to say one of the things in my life that I am trying to get under control is the garden. Since my creativity with art seems to have been attacked I decided to put some energy into the garden till this other stuff clears up. With the help of my neighbor’s teen nephew the garden is in pretty good shape other than being under water off and on all spring. If Bruce can get his veggie garden plowed before the next deluge we might get to eat some fresh veggies eventually.

The bold type was annoying me and I guess it will post that all as the title.🤪 Now, for those of you who don’t know how to pre coat a canvas for a portrait, I will download some photos to show you how I do it. I mix burnt umber and French ultra marine till I get the degree of gray/brown that I want. As you will see in the photos that I will post, I apply this mixture with an even covering, being sure to fill in all the white.

I will download the photos tomorrow so you can check this then. I just want you to know that I am going to try to keep you posted on the progress of my next painting. If you watch carefully and read the blog, you should be able to learn a lot about my process. Shalom.

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Video, Postponed

As I told you in my last post, life has intervened and I am unable to continue with the video. I am hoping that in the near future I will come up with a plan to make it available. Bruce was recently hospitalized with blood clots in both lungs and now I have some health issues too. We are dealing with these things but they sure do take time. I have not put time in my painting for most of the spring and that is totally unacceptable for me. The summer is already stacking up as a very busy one with visits from a sister and some other dear loved ones. As I work on some of my art, I will try to post the progress because I don’t like to keep you uninformed about the studio work.

For several years I have been heading toward more commissions and fewer shows. There are some signs that may be happening. I will keep you posted. Shalom, Diana

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My Apologies

Hello and happy spring to all of my friends and the followers of this blog.  I don’t like to waste a lot of your time describing personal issues but I do want to give you a little information about the video I have been telling you about recently.  Yes, It was suggested to me by a student and friend and hesitantly I proceeded. I was getting fairly comfortable with the process and beginning to become slightly more confident because of my friend’s encouragement and positive outlook. Then life intervened.  My friend and his wife moved away and my sister in law began more than a year of declining health until in October when she passed away.  Work on this video process continued but it was becoming more difficult for me because some other family difficulties arose in the same time frame as my sister in law’s illness. This is a long term issue as are the medical changes that I have experienced at the same time. Both will need continual management and I hope to deal with them in a positive way. For now though, I do not have the energy to move forward on the video.  I hope that this is not the end of the project but I must pull out for the time being.  I do offer my sincere apologies and I ask your forgiveness for opening the possibility and then not being able to carry through. If I get all things in order to where I can proceed, I will be sure to let you know.  Until then, keep looking at work in progress as I post.  May you have a blessed Holy Week as we observe the feasts that our Messiah experienced as he faced His sacrifice.  Shalom

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Glitches

There always seem to be glitches. I have been working for two years on a simple video. So many events and problems slowed it down, including time and space. Now that we have finished the production it seems like other problems have interfered with the publishing. I am hoping to make it available on YouTube but the path through cyber space is a tricky one. I don’t want to make it available if there is not an easy route to view it. Yesterday I tried to make a blog post to tell you how it is coming along but no matter how I tried, I could not get my web site to allow me to post. My husband and I have worked all day to get this fixed. I think we have this latest glitch worked out. Maybe soon I will feel free to release the video. I have kept the price at a minimum because I am not an expert at making videos and there have been quite a few things which threatened to collapse the whole idea. But I know so many people who are looking forward to the information and demonstration, so I continued on. I do hope that you will find the different approach to portrait painting helpful and usable. Listen carefully to all the footage because there are hints and advice the whole way through. Take the information and work with it, practice it, develop it. This process will only be useful to you if you make it part of your process and use it regularly. I do not want to scrap the entire project so I will try to get it wrapped up shortly. Thank you all for your patience.

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Award list

I am uploading this list of awards so that clients can see my standing in the shows. I have a few more for 2018 that are not listed yet. I must point out that 2017 was a whirlwind year for me. That fall my sister in law became ill and our family was involved in her care. So, 2018 was not as active as the previous year. I am moving into a more commission and less show type of schedule so the awards will not accumulate so dramatically. It has been a blessing to have garnered so many awards and having the recognition gives an artist a boost for one’s biography. There comes a time, though, when the artist may choose a different path. For a number of years I have planned to move away from a concentration of shows. This does not mean I will drop out of the show scene altogether. I would not be content to go a completely different direction because there are too many wonderful people who participate whom I would see much less often. Artists are fun and interesting people and I have been inspired and encouraged by many of them. I hope I can pass this forward.
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Award Winner

Here is the image of the portrait of Jack at Twelve that I promised to show you when I got it finished. I am very pleased that it has received an award in the Allied Artist Show near here. This is an example of type of portrait that can be created with the techniques I demonstrate in the video that should be released soon. The delay is due to some small details that must be worked out to allow a smooth access to the purchaser. The video will show the basics of how to paint a portrait by using an indirect method of applying transparent layers to establish the features and develop a realistic skin tone. If you are interested in this method and are willing to be patient as your skill increases, this may add portraits to your artistic endeavors.
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A portrait for my grandson

I will add a full photo of this when I get it finished. I’m hoping I can complete it to enter in the Allied Artists Show. I just thought you would like to see some of the progress.

The video keeps getting delayed. It has been a challenge working on it with my friend long distance. Now he and his wife are even further away and we have had other interruptions; my health, their travels and more health issues. We will eventually get it ready and then I will post an announcement. Thanks so much for your interest. Till then, enjoy the art!

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People’s Choice

Southwestern Pennsylvania Council for the Arts

I have always considered the People’s Choice to be the top award in art. It tells me that people are looking closely and that the work really touches the public.  I am honored to accept this years People’s Choice Award for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Coucil for the Arts at the SAMA in Ligonier.  I want to sincerely thank all those who voted for this painting.  I am humbled and grateful.  I will post an image even though I am sure you have seen it here before. 

By the way, I may be finalizing the video today. 

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Preparations complete, a new journey begins.

Making this video has been like packing my luggage for a trip around the world.  For almost two years now, my friend and I have been working long distance, gathering the necessities to make this journey. We have been refining it the way someone would who will board an airplane which has weight limits and other restrictions. We know certain things are absolute must haves but others will be pared down so that we are not including so much as to make the traveling cumbersome. We made a quick decision to follow through on this and we did not have time to do advance preparations or even to plan our itinerary. Once our decision was made, it was full speed ahead to our destination. All that remains is to see how the journey will go and if the result will be creative and restorative. As soon as my friend uploads everything we have packed, we will announce our take – off. I am hoping our “Portrait Painting for Beginners” will have a successful flight. I want to keep the cost low so that it can be available to many. I will give you the information about Pay Pal as soon as everything else is complete. I always pray before setting off on any journey and I have prayed my way through this part too. Now I pray that my efforts will be a blessing to all who invest in it.  Thank you.

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A Snowy Day

You may be interested in knowing that I hope to update this whole web site in the spring.  This was my first attempt and I know it will make things easier and more pleasant if I can get it looking better.  As I have told you before, technology is not my thing but I try.  I really want to spend more time on my art but I have learned that part of being an artist is sharing.  I don’t like to put my work on Facebook because there are people on public forums who are not interested in the same things I am so why bore them with my stuff even though many have asked me to do this.  My compromise is to share it on my blog.  That way, only those who chose to enter here, need look. 

Also, the video is almost wrapped up.  Yah’s timing is good because the videographer is moving out west.  It has taken us much longer to produce this than anticipated for a number of reasons.  It is my hope that there will be many who can benefit from the instructions and hints I give in these basic lessons.  An artist must take what they learn and what they see and what inspires them and use it all to come up with their own interpretation.  If I can learn to produce worthy portraits, then with time and patience and a measure of talent, so can others.  I will post on here and in public when it is available. 

My video subject.

When the decision was made to try the video there was no time to spare.  I grabbed the subject references that I was about to use for a class and began.  We were pressed for time and then separated by hours but since people were asking for this, we proceeded.  I did my best to get in all the relevant information.  If you use this, and practice, hopefully you will have some amount of success the first try and get better as you go.  That is how I learned.

Well, for now, I will go paint.  Shalom, Diana

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