I spent the last week of January on the portraits of two writers, Mary Oliver and Virginia Woolf. The Mary Oliver one is not finished, but the Virginia Woolf may actually be finished. Which is a nice end to January 2019.
I’ve been watching a lot of videos from Yupari Artist on youtube/ . He is mainly an oil painter but I have learned a lot watching him paint portraits, in case you’re interested in that sort of thing.
Hello to Paint Party Friday and other blog friends! Thanks for dropping in!
I am still painting every day in January. AND I believe I shall also do so for February.
Thanks for everyone for dropping by! Hello to Paint Party Friday!
Painting every day in January, days four through ten.
I can’t post the reference photo because this is the daughter of people I know! Just take my word for it, this doesn’t really look like her too much. But, I have spent three days so far on it, and that my be the longest I have spent on one painting. So that’s something. The multi-day paintings have been frustrating but I’ve tried to push on rather than give up, and that almost always leads to improved results. Which helps as a reminder for the next time. Because it’s every time, that thing where a painting is ugly for a long long time before it starts looking at least a bit like you hoped. :D
Hello again to Paint Party Friday! And if anyone knows of any other daily painting groups please let me know. Thanks for stopping in!
Dangit I forgot making a blog post looks different. I want the other way back.
January paintings one, two, and three. None are finished! I’m not sure how many acrylic paintings I have actually like, finished. I think maybe none. So hello January 2019! I think you may be the month I actually finish an acrylic painting (or two) in addition to starting many.
Hello once again to Paint Party Friday! And thank you kindly to my visitors for visiting. Also, sorry for the terrible photos, yikes. Perhaps i will try to take some in daylight.
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!
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. ;)
Oh! And here are the corgis! Three ATCs (2.5″ x 3.5″ miniature art)
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.
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!
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. :)
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!
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!