oil 11 x 14
click on the image to see a large closeup
Greetings All,
The posts on " Got Confidence" were very insightful and challenging. I am still absorbing some of the heartfelt responses. I've got so much to digest.
I am going to do another step by step of Mr. X. I am photographing this painting at each significant step. I want it to look like it was painted live so I am avoiding putting in too much detail I photographed this man 30 years ago...man am I old!
Mr. X ...Can you guess a man's occupation just by looking at him?
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Posts
I really like the feeling of this one. I was looking at your past post and it looked like you were wiping off the underpainting to get the light areas?
ReplyDeleteJeremy...You can do it either way. In this painting I just laid in tones thinly for my values and I let it dry over night. I then went in and did a monochrome layin and then added color. You will see it in my step by step. I just finished the painting just now.
ReplyDeleteIt looks great. I like how subtle the shadow side is.
ReplyDeleteI would guess he's a sculptor, they seem to be a little bit rugged.
The portrait is very ethereal and soft in appearance.
ReplyDeleteHow much of that is because this is 'your' vision?
At Watts, the instructor would probably tell me to add more darks in the core shadow that separates the light from the dark and make the hair darker.....but that would ruin the ethereal state of the painting.....keep in mind the instructor paints like Fechin...so, like I said, your own vision.
I guess it's a question of separating what you feel from what you see?
PN,
ReplyDeleteI approach each portrait slightly differently in that I always ask myself...How do I best portray and paint this person to express what I feel about them. I am not tryying to use a portrait as an excuse to show off how well I can paint edges or carry a likeness. I want to add soul. Whether I am successful at it is another story. Showing the persons humanity and character are very important to me .
So, I was not consciously trying to paint Mr. X ethereally but his personality was key in how I approached his portrait.
When I had a studio in Pasadena on Raymond Street , Mr. X rented one of the larger spaces. About 1000 sq. ft. He would shuffle in and work day and night in there all alone. There was always activity and noises of drills and hammering. What was he doing in there? He always gave off the impression, when we saw him, of " leave me alone" So we did. After several months one evening the door of his office suite was cracked and I peeked in. What I saw fascinated me. Mr. X and used the entire space to build an elaborate model train environment. He had constructed and engineered an elaborate track structure that weaved and crisscrossed and contained numerous tracks that moved like a crazed Frank Stella painting. It was walking into a world of an eccentric and brilliant hobbyist. Mr. X was in a friendly mood and we became friends and he explained his love of model trains. After I got to know him , I asked him a
" Are you retired ? Are you independently wealthy? How is it that you are here all the time just playing with your trains? He looked at me and told me he owned the Local Porn Bookstore .
FRANK This kicks BUTT~T
ReplyDeleteThomas...thanks a bunch...I think I am going to try out your Flemish approach on a portrait at some point.
ReplyDelete