Category Archives: Acrylics

Still Painting in Acrylics, Haltingly, Dec 2018

Ok, so apparently WordPress has changed quite a bit since my last post three months ago and/or the WordPress update I just did this morning. Dangit. I liked it the way it was. Isn’t this always the case? I am just now, begrudgingly, used to the new Gmail. Grrr.

Here is a painting of fish bones!

Fishbones, 8″ x 10″ acrylics on canvas board. www.theslumberingherd.com

I can tell you these fish bones were painted under some duress. Already days late for a Secret Santa at illustratedatcs.com, the themes I had to work with included Corgi dogs, skulls or other anatomical type bone studies, famous artists, cityscapes. I found some nice reference photos for Corgis and these fish bones. And while some of you reading this thing may be able to produce art on a tight deadline, that is not a thing I have ever had much success with.

Perhaps as a result of completing these fish bones – at the fifty-second hour, til the wee hours of the morning  (and including the mini Corgis in ink, below)  – I should start considering myself someone who can, in fact, finish pretty decent work on a tight deadline. The stress though. Dang. 

Here’s progress pics! And like every painting I have ever painted to date, I almost gave up several times. I actually started a new canvas, thinking I’d try a Corgi. But since I was already a couple hours in, I decided to try to finish it. Always try to finish it! That is important. ;)

  • New WordPress Gallery it seems! Bummer you can’t click on each photo. Progress pics of 8×10 acrylic painting. www.theslumberingherd.com

Oh! And here are the corgis! Three ATCs (2.5″ x 3.5″ miniature art)

Three Corgies, each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, ink, gel pen on smooth Bristol paper

Ahed Tamimi, Acrylic Portrait Practice

Ahed Tamimi, 22″ x 28″ acrylics in progress, Sept 2018

Ahed Tamimi, photo by Getty Images Dec 2017

Ahed Tamimi, teenaged Palestinian Independence activist, 22″ x 28″ acrylics in progress. Because no child deserves to grow up in an occupied State.

Just a reminder, more than 90% of people are just like you. They want to live peacefully and with the ability to provide for their families. Hatred toward a particular group is stoked by those in power in order to keep their power.

Tons of progress pics. Of course this is a larger canvas and I have also spent more days on it. More time = better! So far, in my experience.

Thanks for stopping in! Hello to Paint Party Friday.

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
https://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!

Hello to Paint Party Friday!

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

Thanks for dropping by! Hello to Paint Party Friday!

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

 

Hello to Paint Party Friday!

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

Thanks for stopping in! Hello to Paint Party Friday!

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!