Tag Archives: art

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Website has problems, sorry

I discovered that I could not open my website yesterday. I worked for hours with the ai help offered. I thought it was finally fixed but then this morning I could not access it. As I looked around my previously viewed videos, I found one from Friday when I last posted. I was able to enter from there. I saved it in favorites and hope I don’t have this problem any more. I don’t have time for these delays.
So, this is a cropped image of one of William Adolph Bouguereau’s famous and valuable paintings. I have chosen this for my first Master Copy. If it turns out well, I want to feature it in my upcoming show and then I will take bids from any who wish to purchase it. This artist is a master of human form. He made a fortune selling his originals and prints when the art world was banning him from The Salon in Paris and eliminating him completely from art history books. The impressionists and abstract artists of his time wanted to rid the art world of realism and did their best to destroy his reputation as an artist. But he continued to be successful, appealing largely to the American market. In 1960, if I had been able to gather together the sum of $600 I might have been able to purchase one of his works. Now those values have exploded. I have been fortunate enough to see most of his works which are on display in galleries from Massachusetts to Florida. I have been given permission to be given a chair so that I could sit for hours in front of several to study closely every brush stroke. I have been permitted to photograph them in detail, although one circumstance had tight restrictions. We were able to attend an exhibition at the Scaife Gallery in Pittsburgh. The show was to be exhibited in, I believe, three cities only. One was in California, maybe LA, one here in Pittsburgh and one in Florida. What a blessing it was to see it.
I have finally reached the place where I am strongly compelled to begin this challenge. Already, while making the drawing, I appreciate the expertise Bouguereau had in every aspect of executing the nuances of his subject. His hair alone shows a total understanding of the twists and turns of a curl. He makes it all seem so simple.

I have used Diana’s Grid Tool to be sure that my drawing is true to Bouguereau’s vision. Now I will begin to lay down the image in oils. I will post as often as I can as long as this technology does not break down. Till next time, Diana

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Large painting

So, how long does it take you to paint such a large painting? That is a question I often hear. The answer is, It depends. The question should be, ‘How do you cover such a large area with paint?’ Every one is thinking about direct method where you mix every color even remotely needed and then lay it on stroke by perfect stroke. Sorry, for me that is not possible. Today I wondered if I could even get up the stairs to my studio. Well, it felt that bad but now that I am here, I am in my happy place. Even so, I must choose an area to paint and get it done. My goal today is to cover an area of flesh with an under painting that is somewhat close to what I envision as my finished skin layer. I thought I would give you a peek at what this looks like. Try to understand that I am aiming for correcting proportion and shape using colors that have close to the correct value. Now that I have slapped this on as quickly but correctly as possible in a relatively short time, I will now use an old fuzzy brush to spread it into rather correct position. Next, I will buff it to a shine. Then I will sculpt the muscles to the best I can get it today. Does this sound easy? No, it is not. But I really like the results after five or six or seven layers. Bouguereau said, forty layers is not too many!

let me briefly tell you that I have been working on a special project. Soon, I will show it to you. It is an art tool which I am having manufactured now. I have been working on this for three years and trying to get the price down. I am hoping to make it available in a very limited quantity and then sell it to an art supplier for a percentage. It is a very useful tool which I designed for my own use to save time,(pain hours), and perfect the likeness. Hopefully I can show it to you soon. For now, be well, be grateful. Hugs, Diana

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Mother and Baby

I loaded two photos and inserted them both, I don’t know if they will both show up and I won’t know until I post this. I have been painting some smalls for a show featuring smalls to sell. I enjoy these even though I have always concentrated on life size portraits which is the image I am posting today. I found a beautiful frame at a thrift shop in Ohio a few years ago. I thought this mother and baby should really look good in the frame. Since this frame is a size that is not standard, I would have to pay a high price for a custom made linen canvas. So, I decided to make my first attempt at constructing an archival linen canvas panel. My husband bought a piece of birch plywood and cut it to fit the frame I mentioned. I painted it with a sealant and then cut pre primed linen which I glued carefully to the panel using a special archival glue. After it was dry, I painted the imprimatura layer using a mixture of burnt umber and ultra marine blue, wiping it down to the shade and value I wanted. I transferred the drawing as I have shown you before and then I emphasized the darks with the same paint I had used for the imprimatura. When dry, I used a lead white equally mixed with titanium white to begin marking the brights to established the three dimensionality of the image. I always try to make photos of every stage of the portrait painting. If both of the images show up here you will be able to see the progress of this procedure. This process is one of the most important parts of making a painting in a style of realism. It can be a slow process for students to master this stage. It takes an artistic trained eye to see the value shifts in flesh tones as well as clothing and background; even more skill to show this on the canvas with paint using only the pressure of the brush or a heavier application of the paint. These are the kinds of things we discuss and practice in our class. I have been greatly blessed to be learning these skills. My students are excited and encouraged as they begin to see results and improve these skills. I try to post often when I am actively working on a painting so that my viewers can give this a try too with the examples to guide them. I hope you all find this as rewarding as I do. Till next time, Shalom, Diana

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