Uma did a splendid job on this painting as well. After a couple weeks off, we will be starting a floral project - perhaps roses on a serving tray.
Enjoy Easter or Passover, Spring Break from school or whatever you are up to.
]]>Flesh tones were mixed in varying shades with a mixture of gold oxide, burnt sienna, burnt umber and white. In redder areas of the flesh, such as her cheeks and side of her nose, a tad of the red/orange color from the headdress was added.
The dark shadows next to her hair were not holding well as the paint was rather transparent. We will have to heat set and go over it again at our next painting session.
The eyes were scarry - it is the focus of the painting, but I think we both did a great job in the first attempt. Additional shading to the eyeballs as well as around the eyes will be added next time.
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Those who are following me know that I paint with my friend Uma a few times a month. We pick something we would both like to paint, then tackle it together. We recently finished a very large painting "Sunset on the Cinque Terre". We worked on that for 6 months (YIKES!). Uma has made me promise to tell her she is crazy if she picks a project like that again!
We have just embarked on a much smaller adventure - this time a portrait. Most people would probably recognize this particular photo. It was on the cover of National Geographic Magazine June, 1985.
(Photo of cover is from Wikipedia)
Photo was taken by Steve McCurry and to date has become the most famous cover photo for the magazine. The intensity in the girl's green eyes draws you right into the photo. Capturing that will be a must in the painting.
We are painting on 12 x 16 canvas with heat set oil paint. I chose to use the oil paint so we could blend the colors without worrying about the paint drying. Acrylic is generally my medium of choice because of its fast drying time, but I have not tried it on a portrait, and didn't want to for this one. The paint never dries until it is set with heat. A carefully used heat gun is necessary, as a hair dryer does not get hot enough.
Starting in the background, we applied varying shades of a blue/turquoise. The light source is coming from the right. Next, we put in her headdress with varying shades of red-orange, then her hair with browns and black. Her cloak has holes in it, with turquoise fabric showing through. While we had the background color handy, we put in the fabric that could be seen through the holes.
We got this amount done after working for about 3 hours. This was great, compared to the very slow progress of the Cinque Terre painting.
Stay tuned for the next episode of our portrait project. You can now find me on Instagram @betsergirl as well as Facebook.
]]>The water was also not quite right. The slant I had going on the direction the water was flowing was too steep. I completely painted out the water with tones of orange and started again, taking care to get the angle correct this time. I spent much time adding several shades of orange and several shades of blue violet in small strokes. I added glazes of Diarylide Yellow and Indian Yellow to get the glow of the sun on the water.
Next, I washed a thin glaze of blue violet over all the buildings to tone and cool them. Since the sun is setting, the buildings would be dimly lit, unless the sunset was casting its coral glow on them. I repainted some of the windows with yellow to look like lights were on, rather than leaving them all dark. I repainted all the roof tops to a cooler version of blue violet (unless the roofs were red). I repainted all the buildings in the very lower left as they were just took dark the way they were.
I reworked all the rocks to create more interest. Finally, I brushed some orange glow onto all elements in the painting. I finally feel that the painting is harmonized largely by using a contrast of blue violet with orange.
This project has been a very long one, but such a learning experience. I hope you have enjoyed my long journey to completion.
Stay tuned as Uma and I embark on a new painting. This time we will do a portrait on 12 x 16 canvas. Uma chose the Afghanistan girl who was on the cover of the National Geographic Magazine a number of years ago.
]]>What we are trying to reconcile is the fact that my original reference photo did not have boats and the rock wall on the left. It was cut off at the bottom of the buildings; however, Uma wanted boats in the scene, so we combined several other reference photos of the Cinque Terre into this one painting. Though there is still much to do, I am pleased with it overall. Stay tuned as we bring this large painting to a close in the near future!
]]>During this session, I painted out part of one of the front buildings. The line work for the railing on the balcony was not up to par. This is the beauty of painting with acrylic. If you need to change something, you can just paint it out and do it again.
After today's session, I'm feeling better about the overall look of the painting. Uma is getting impatient with the amount of time this is taking and is desperate to get this finished and start something new. Hopefully we will have more time when we paint next, and may be able to get close to completion. Still to be done: all the water which is the left quadrant of the painting; boats, rock wall on lower left, lower mid portion of the painting. We also need to do more work on the sky, as it is not yet bright enough. Finally, we will need to add glints of the coral sunset color reflecting onto many areas of the painting. On second thought, I doubt that we can accomplish all of this in 1 painting session. Sorry Uma!
]]>Each time we meet, we wonder why on Earth we picked such a large project on a large canvas, but there is no turning back now! We've invested far too much time to give up on this. I keep hoping it will all "pull together" in the end.
]]>My little village finally looks like it is coming to life. Still a long way to go.
]]>Uma and I are now questioning why we picked such a busy subject on such a large canvas, but there is no turning back now! One step at a time, just the buildings were originally built will get us to completion.
]]>More work was done on the buildings, applying local colors of the roof tops, fronts, some of the decorative stripes on the buildings.
We are really beginning to wonder if there is a more logical way to tackle this hill of buildings, as it is seeming to be a very big task. Since it all has to be painted anyway, we'll do it a building at a time without getting hung up in too many small details this early in the painting. I've already decided that I transferred too much detail to begin with, and need to simplify while painting. In reality, the sun is setting, and you would not be able to make out fine details.
]]>Clouds were placed with light gray in a scrubbing motion, and lightened with a warm white. Tints of hansa yellow and coral were scumbled into the clouds.
Hansa yellow mixed with napthol red light + white made the orange of the sunset. Streaks of lighter yellow were placed with hansa yellow + white. The horizon was darkened by adding red violet to the orange mix.
Colors from the sky were glazed into the water as a reflection. At this point the water has not been developed with any movement lines.
Buildings were begun with local colors of yellow and light orange. The sky was a fun part of this painting. We are now looking at the multitude of buildings and windows that will be painted next. The task seems a bit daunting at this point.
]]>In December, 2018, we started a new painting of a sunset in the Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is on the coast of Northwest Italy. It is a grouping of 5 villages built into the hills. Homes are painted in many different colors on stucco type material. It is old and charming. I had the opportunity to visit one of the villages for a few hours when my husband and I took a tour of Italy in 2014 to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.
This is the largest painting I've tackled to date. It is 3 feet tall x 4 feet wide. I'm using gallery wrap canvas, so I won't have to frame it.
The paint I am using is Heritage Multimedia acrylic by David Jansen. I'm using a variety of long handled brushes- bristle, Global Art Fusion and Royal SableTek, that are so good at scrubbing on canvas.
I began the painting by covering the canvas in a wash of coral and light orange. The sunset colors are awash over the entire scene in my reference photo. Yellow was added to the sky closest to the sun, and darker orange at the horizon line. I then began basecoating local colors on the buildings.
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