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, October 18, 2011

"36 Heads", Portrait #11






















October 11, 2011, Zwanda
Terry Ludwig Pastels on Pastelmat
12"x16"

Zwanda sat for 3 hours indoors.  I had a bit of trouble in the beginning, having not given much thought to painting dark skin before with pastels.  The first hour was spent with proportions and skin tones, normally at the one hour point, the painting is further along than this one was.  Somehow it got pulled together.  I enjoyed using the violets in Zwanda's shadowed areas.  Overall, I'm very happy with Zwanda's face in this painting, but the shoulder and breast are too small- again, in my rush to finish, I didn't devote enough time to those areas.  I'm still enjoying the Ludwigs on the dark gray PastelMat.  I won't be in the next session on Oct. 18, but plan to return to the model session on Oct. 25.
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