Acrylic Portrait Practice, Manal al-Sharif

Manal al-Sharif is a Saudi Arabian women’s rights activist who helped start a women’s right to drive campaign in 2011. (from Wikipedia)

Manal al-Sharif, Saudi Arabian Women’s Rights Activist, 11″ x 14″ acrylics
http://www.theslumberingherd.com/

Read her speech from the Sydney Opera House All About Women Festival, March 4, 2018.

“I have proudly been called disrespectful for defying laws that disrespected me. I have been proudly called a corruptor for encouraging my fellow Saudi women to speak up for themselves. I have proudly been called a traitor to the nation and the faith for challenging the degrading narrative of women in our textbooks and teachings.”  (excerpt)

Buy her book, Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening

Progress pics:

 

Difference of three hours progress with local painting instructor

As noted, this last progression shows the difference of a three-hour session with a local painting instructor, Sarah Kaiser. Looking forward to next week’s session!

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Acrylic Portrait Practice, Dolores Huerta

Today’s portrait practice: Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta, the inspiring Mexican-American Labor and Civil Rights leader, winner of many local and national humanitarian awards. Originator of the phrase, “Si, se puede” – “yes it can be done” or “yes we can” – adopted for his presidential campaigns by President Barack Obama.

In October 2010, Huerta was awarded an honorary degree by Mills College, who lauded her as “a lifetime champion of social justice whose courageous leadership garnered unprecedented national support from farmworkers, women, and underserved communities in a landmark quest for human and civil rights”. (From Wikipedia)

11″ x 14″ acrylic on canvas. This is a work in progress! The space between her nose and lips is too long, for one thing, and more layers are needed to improve the overall skin tone. As with all the others, I may not finish it anytime soon. Or at all? I don’t know! I’m just happy to be practicing and trying not to worry about other things.

Based on this photo by Angela L Torres (printed and taped to my easel).  I need to use my old Ipad for reference photos instead of printing things. One of these days!

Progress pics!

I have found a local painting instructor and (very) small class on Monday nights, starting this coming Monday. Hooray! I will report back.

Thanks so much for stopping in! Hello to Paint Party Friday. :)

Acrylic Portrait, Stacey Abrams

11” x 14” acrylics on canvas. Not quite finished.
Stacey Abrams, Democratic Nominee for Governor of Georgia, 2018
The first African-American woman to be a major party nominee for governor in the United States.

“We are writing the next chapter of Georgia’s future where no one is unseen, no one is unheard, and no one is uninspired.”  ~Stacey Abrams

Watch her primary victory speech
DONATE to her campaign
Stacey Abrams is the Future for a Democratic Party in Crisis (Rolling Stone)

Lots of progress pics below (some a bit crooked)! The ugly stage is still very hard to push through. The eyes were uneven for some time – it is very helpful to step back frequently to see the bigger picture.

(Portrait based on photo found here, photographer unknown.)

I have to finish a few things and decide whether to add stuff to the background. Or maybe i should just leave it here.

Thanks so much for stopping in!

Acrylic Painting Practice update May 5, 2018

May 2, 2018
16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress

Well, this one feels more complete than previous ones, but still needs a background. Flowers? Subtle, intricate wallpaper pattern?  I also wanted to do some more layers on the hair. Perhaps at some point!

reference photo
(from Google, no identifying detail)

I have not been trying to copy exactly the photo references I am using, but mainly to use them for proper structure and lighting. I don’t own the photo or rights to the photo, for one thing. Though the Shirley Chisholm painting I recently posted was as close to the photo reference as I could get. (That one was a gift for a friend.)

Lots of reference photos of the painting! You may have noticed I like to start with a toned background rather than white. This was a tip in a youtube video – but I can’t recall which one. It may have been Will Kemp.

April 24, 2018 Acrylics in Progress 1

April 24, 2018 Acrylics in Progress 2

April 24, 2018 Acrylics in Progress 3

April 24, 2018 Acrylics in Progress 4

April 24, 2018 Acrylics in Progress 5

example palette

April 24, 2018 Acrylics in Progress 6

April 24, 2018 Acrylics in Progress 7

April 24, 2018 Acrylics in Progress 8

May 2, 2018, acrylics in progress 1

May 2, 2018
16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress

Thanks as always for the nice comments! Hello Paint Party Friday!

 

Acrylic Portrait Progress, Purple and Fuchsia

April 22, 2018
16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress, 9

Colors! Some of my favorites in fact. I wouldn’t call this done, but the most recent layer of purple/fuchsia using Golden’s acrylic glazing liquid (satin), created a pretty neat effect! And while the photo reference is a pale white woman, it is honestly my intention to expand to all colors and sizes and ages (even if some of those are not realistic).

Lots of progress pics! I am glad visitors seem to like them. I always like to see them on other art blogs! But it can be more time consuming than I would like.

April 22, 2018 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress, 1

April 22, 2018 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress, 2

April 22, 2018 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress, 3

April 22, 2018 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress, 4

April 22, 2018 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress, 5

April 22, 2018 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress, 6

April 22, 2018 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress, 7

April 22, 2018 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress, 8

April 22, 2018
16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress, 9

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Unbought and Unbossed, Shirley Chisholm in Acrylics

Shirley Chisholm, 8″ x 12″ Acrylics

I do not think it is a great likeness, but I still think it’s a neat portrait. I could certainly use some practice with lettering, but that’s ok! I took lots of progress shots. Which helps remind me that the first 70% is terrible and just keep going!

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 8 progress-1

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 8 progress-2

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 8 progress-3

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 8 progress-4

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 8 progress-5

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 8 progress-6

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 8 progress-7

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 8 progress-8

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 15 progress-1

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 15 progress-2

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 15 progress-3

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 15 progress-4

Shirley, 8″ x 12′ Acrylics, April 15 progress-5

Shirley Chisholm, 8″ x 12″ Acrylics, April 2018

 

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Acrylic Portrait Progress (the same one!)

April 2, 2018 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress

Dangit, I was sure I’d have more done by now. This is still not finished! But I did spend more time on this one so far than any of the earlier ones. And here’s progress pics! The first one is just as it ended last week, with the addition of the dark background.

April 2, 2018 – 1
12″ x 16″ acrylics in progress

April 2, 2018 – 2 12″ x 16″ acrylics in progress

Maybe one thing I could have asked myself before this would be, “do you think she will look like a zombie if I put grey over green?” Because yes, I did that, and yes, she does look like a zombie. Which is not my favorite. I almost abandoned it here. But instead, I pressed on!

April 2, 2018 – 3 12″ x 16″ acrylics in progress

April 2, 2018 – 4 12″ x 16″ acrylics in progress

I decided on yellows and browns for the next layer but the features are looking much more stiff and I switched to the hair for a bit before deciding how to finish (?!) this face.

April 2, 2018 – 5 12″ x 16″ acrylics in progress

April 2, 2018 – 6 12″ x 16″ acrylics in progress

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End of March Acrylic Practice

St. Vincent reference pic, captured still from youtube video

March 24, 2018, 16″ x 20″ Acrylics in Progress 1

March 24, 2018 16″ x 20″ Acrylics in Progress 2

March 24, 2018 16″ x 20″ Acrylics in Progress 3

March 25, 2018, 16″ x 20″ Acrylics in progress 5

March 25, 2018, 16″ x 20″ Acrylics in progress 6

March 25, 2018, 16″ x 20″ Acrylics in progress 7

March 25, 2018, 16″ x 20″ Acrylics in progress 8

March 25, 2018, 16″ x 20″ Acrylics in progress 9

Still far from complete! I honestly don’t know if I will be going back to any of these portraits in progress! If too many days pass I tend to start a new one. I should probably stop buying new canvases and try to finish a couple!

Meanwhile as we find ourselves in this bizarre and frightening timeline with ignorant white supremacist loons and their Russian puppetmasters trying to break democracy, I feel it’s important to clearly state one’s objections to this repulsive and frankly horrific state of affairs.

But, I also think it’s good to remind people that the forces of good are tireless, committed, and winning small victories. So here’s a happy story for this post:  A deported veteran who launched a health clinic for other deported veterans in Tijuana, Mexico, has been granted citizenship in the United States.

Hello and thank you to Paint Party Friday, and of course many thanks for all the nice comments!

Late March Update, Acrylic Portrait

16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress

Pretty happy with this one so far! I think I am going to leave it for now, but it may reappear on these very pages in the coming weeks.

Here is proof you can make a decent nose and mouth and eyes if you practice. Which I am trying to do more aaaaaaaah. Have to fix the nose on the right side, decide how to finish the shoulders, and eventually eyelashes. And tone down the pink cheeks a bit. But on to the next one for now!

16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress 1, portrait on green

16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress 2, portrait on green

This is definitely one of my better sketches underneath, and improved the process quite a bit. Obvious, right? I have been watching more videos. I linked some over here! The green background was done the day before and let dry.

16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress 3, portrait on green

16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress 4, portrait on green

16″ x 20″, acrylics in progress 5, portrait in green

16″ x 20″, acrylics in progress 6, portrait in green

16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress

Eye detail in progress, March 2018

Hooray progress pics.

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Mid-March Acrylics Portrait Practice

 

March 11-14, 2018. 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress

So this one is at a point where I may decide to move on to the next one. But that is probably a mistake! This is definitely not *done* but maybe it will never be. Or is that a terrible precedent?! I don’t know. Any insight appreciated.

Anyway, I think I will give this one some more time. I will post an update next week!

There will probably be a new one as well. REALLY trying to paint 5-6 days a week. Progress pics below. See how the mouth was crooked to start? On the other hand, it looked a bit like she was deliberately sort of pursing her lips. But I straightened it and it still needs some fixing up.

March 11, 2018. 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress

March 12, 2018. 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress

March 13, 2018. 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress

March 11-14, 2018. 16″ x 20″ acrylics in progress

Thanks so much for dropping in! Thanks so much for the nice comments!

Hello to Paint Party Friday, recently having reached their seventh birthday, wow!

I am learning to paint so I can be a painter in support of our inclusive, progressive future. :)