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...



Sunday, October 2, 2011

Portrait #11, why it's not here yet...

The model I was looking forward to painting last week, a flaming red head, did not show up to the session.  I was really disappointed, having painted her a few other times in watercolor, once in pastels, I was looking forward to painting her again.

This is another issue about working with live models insteading photographs- sometimes your reference doesn't show up!  I have been attending figure and portrait sessions for over 3 1/2 years now, and this is the third time this has happened.  This no show was the most disappointing, as this is the first time I've depended on a model to meet a specific goal like this project.  The other times I wasn't working towards a goal, so the no shows didn't bother me much.

On to next week.  We haven't gotten the October model schedule yet, so I'm not sure who will be sitting in the chair!
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