Barbara Arrighi Art: December 2011

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...

Friday, December 2, 2011

"36 Heads", Portrait #12

November 1, 2011, David
Terry Ludwig and Unison soft Pastels on PastelMat
12"x16"

David sat for us for 3 hours indoors. This was an exciting portrait to paint because of the chef costume. Athough at first glance, white may seem boring to paint, it was fun to be able to use some of the grays in my pastel set. David is the same model that posed for Portrait #9. I look back now and think that Portrait #9 is a better study of David's complexion and features. Clothing is always a challenge for me to paint, so in this portrait I decided to devote more time to painting the chef outfit. I am pleased with the result, although the time devoted to the clothing took time away from working on David's ruddy complexion.