This is one of the more recent portraits I’ve completed. Wonderful young man about to start college. The glasses were new to me but not as difficult as I anticipated. Still trying to get more paint on my paintings. This one is moving in that direction, but still not as much as I’d like. This started as a 3 hour session that I reworked from the photo. I know that’s a “no-no”. But when I came back and took another look at it I realized that it was off, so I couldn’t resist reworking it. My goal this year is to start completing some portraits completely from life.
The colors from life are so completely different from a photo. Lots of nuances that are completely gone in the photo. I have discovered that working from my computer monitor is much better than an actual photo. The other advantage is I can focus on different areas and blow them up for better detail.
I’ve recently started a new series of local musicians. Began the first on Sunday and it brought up some things that I didn’t expect. Painting a friend is so much different than a “model”. Lots of fear and anxiety. But the good news is that this is a friend that I could acknowledge the fear with and not be too embarrassed. I did decide that for now I’ll spend some time figuring out the pose and photographing. Then I’ll do a color study that doesn’t have to be perfect. From the photo and the color study, I can begin the painting. After I’ve gotten to a certain point, I can have the sitter back for more painting from life.
