Master Study

The first thing I did for this study was tone my canvas. This light coat will serve as the models lightest skin tone.

Next, I drew a sketch of the model, and marked in all of the value changes. This second coat acts for the lightest values in her hair.

Once this layer had dried, I painted a third coat of paint to intensify the darker values seen in her hair, face, and clothing.

All of the above steps were done using burnt sienna.

Now using color, I mix a flesh tone and fill in the darkest values on her face.

Next, I lightened that color and mark in the medium tones on her face, and began working on her hair. I added a red-brown color to her hair and a yellow ocher- alizarin crimson to give her highlights. I gave my model wavy hair.

While painting her hair, I learned that if you add a little mineral spirits to it gives a really nice wave effect when you swoosh your brush.

The last step I took on this days work is paint in her eyes. I did not want to paint the typical red head with green eyes, so I gave her blue eyes with green undertones. I did this by first mixing a deep green and applying it to the entire iris-pupil area. Next I mixed a medium blue and applied it using a dabbing motion. This allows the green to show through. Thirdly, I lightly dragged a sharp light blue over the iris area making the darker blue layer “pop”. I ended this process by filling in the pupil with a deep blue-black color.

Self Portrait

This is an abstract interpretation of myself. The steps taken in creating this painting are as following:

First, I took a picture of myself and imported it into Photoshop.

Next, I intensified the hue saturation, and deepened the contrast.

Fourthly, I applied the Cut Out effect. This effect causes similar colors to block together. This gives the painting a puzzle effect.

Next, I drew the photoshoped image on a canvas using a pencil. The easiest way to acomplish this step is to focus on drawing the shape of each section, verses a nose or a mouth. As I drew, I consistently made note of my placement. For example, my nose is directly above my mouth about an inch, my left eye merges slightly with my glasses, and my thumb aligns with the center of my eye.

Lastly, I painted each section with a tint or shade of color that matches the original photoshoped image.

Gilcrease Museum

Robert Spencer, Afternoon Bathers,
Oil on Canvas,
On loan to Gilcrease Museum from the Bank of America Collection

My visit to the Gilcrease Museum was quite enjoyable. During my tour of Impressionist art, I realized the many ways of painting with oil. You can paint with long strokes, short strokes, and very short strokes that appear as large dots. Some painting used a variety of brush strokes. I think that I like the combination of strokes rather then just the use of one. It gives the painting character. Another thing that I noticed was the skies in these paintings. Turquoise, pale green, light green, sage, orange, violet, blue, grey, white, pink-The color choice of these skies seemed very important. They set the mood. If the day was bright and cheery, turquoise, light green, and blues were used. On dreary days, the sky was painted in grey, and pale green with orange, violet, and pink scattered amongst the clouds. This visit was very educational.

Tea Cup

First Painting!