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 13, 2011

"36 Heads", portrait #7





















September 5, 2011, Michael
Unison and Terry Ludwig soft Pastels on Canson Mi-teintes
12"x16"

I asked my husband to sit for me for an hour outside on Labor Day weekend- this is the first time I've tried to paint him.  Breaks every 15 minutes- he did a fine job posing, which made my job easier.   Painting someone you know is a different experience than painting a model you don't know well.  You notice things about this person you've never bothered to "see" despite sitting with them at dinner every night.  There are a few problems with this painting (that ear was challenging in particular), but overall, I'm happy with this portrait, and think it is a good likeness.  Wish I had worked on sanded paper, but didn't think an hour was enough to use a sheet of sanded- it would have been.  I mostly used Unison soft pastels on the smooth side of Canson Mi-teintes (felt grey) and a few Terry Ludwigs for finishing touches.  Hopefully he'll agree to sit for me another time, painting this was very enjoyable and creates a desire in me to paint other people in my life- close friends and family.  Most of my family members live far from me, but after I get more practice,  I'll travel with my pastels to visit them.  I hope they agree to sit for me.  I know it's a hard job, harder than it looks, especially sitting for a beginning portrait artist that needs the model to be as still as possible.
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