Nothing fascinates me more as an artist than painting from a live model. There is an unspoken dialogue that happens between model and artist, the model expressing emotion, the artist trying to capture and translate that emotion on paper or canvas.

Painting from life is much different than painting from a reference photo. People are not static like photographs. Over the course of a model session, the model may shift slightly, the lighting may change, and at the end of the session, the reference has gone home. Working from life, however, affords an artist a richness of detail and emotion that is difficult to capture from photographs, so while it is a great challenge, it is worth the effort and time.

"36 Heads" is a project I hope to complete in one year- painting 36 portraits from life.

Many artists show only their best art to the public. This blog is an attempt to offer a glimpse into the artistic process itself. Some portraits will be successful, many will not. I do not touch up the art after the model session is over- the artwork is taken home and photographed without adding finishing touches.

So many things come into play as to why some sessions are a success, others not. The atmosphere of the session, my energy level that day, even the mood of the model, these things and many more affect the final painting. Sometimes I experiment with different materials, which leads to different results.

The project began on July 26, 2011. On to the heads...



Tuesday, September 6, 2011

"36 Heads", portrait #2

August 2, 2011
Soft pastels on Canson Mi-teintes
12"x16"

Worked again outside, 3 hour model session with breaks every 20 minutes.  The sunlight shifted drastically across the model's body over 3 hours, and this is one aspect that makes painting outside so much different than in a studio where the lighting is more constant.  I painted the pattern of lights and darks in this pose about 30 minutes into the session, and although the sunlight continued to shift, I kept working as if the lighting hadn't changed.  This was a challenge as I'm so used to painting what is in front of me without change in lighting, and being able to keep with the values on this over the remaining 2 1/2 hours is a personal breakthrough.  This painting used Rembrandt soft pastels on the rough side of Canson Mi-tientes, felt gray color.   4 new Unison pastels added, which I enjoyed working with more than the Rembrandts, especially the color BV4 in the shadow areas on the skin.  Unfortunately I forgot to get the model's name. 
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