Yellow, Red, Black and White

10" x 8" Oil on Panel

A few more from the weekly portrait sessions. As mentioned in the posts title, these were painted with a limited palette. When painting plein air landscapes, I usually use some kind of split primary plus green. For studying portraits at the weekly sessions, I limit colors to a modified "Zorn" palette;  usually yellow ochre (or cadmium yellow), cadmium red, ivory black, and titanium white. I probably won't always use that palette for painting people, but it serves it's purpose for now.

10" x 8" Oil on Panel

The first two portraits shown here are the most recent ones. They were painted with only yellow ochre, cadmium red, ivory black, and titanium white. The last portrait was painted a month or so ago, and I don't remember the exact paints used.

10" x 8" Oil on Panel

The last portrait is of Micah Christensen. Micah is an art historian and lecturer who's work takes him to places all over the country and around the globe. He was good enough to sit for us one Thursday evening at Casey Child's studio. This portrait could have been better, but rather than hold still, Micah talked for the whole three hours. I was OK with that because of what he had to say about artists of the past, the art world of yesteryear and today, and what the future could hold for the visual arts. I was happy for the opportunity to listen to him while I painted. For more information about Micah Christensen, click here. While you're at it, be sure to check out his lectures, articles and other presentations about 18th and 19th century visual arts at The Bearded Roman.

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing".

Presentation at UVAG

A few weeks ago Linda Paulsen of the Utah Valley Artist Guild asked if I would do a presentation for her group. Or maybe it was more than a few weeks. Anyway, yesterday evening I finally did a presentation for them.

Linda was kind enough to snap a few photos for me to put on my blog. She took the photos from the front row, so you'll have to take my word for it - the were, I think, thirty or so people there at the meeting.

Most of the presentation was about plein air painting. We talked about portraits a little also. I brought some examples of both to show. Part of the display also included a few pochade boxes and other pieces of equipment for them to see. I can't say that I'm an expert presenter, but the group asked a lot of good questions and we had some good discussions. The presentation touched on things like: Why to paint on location, equipment for painting outdoors, The challenges and rewards of painting "en plein aire." Also, a few resources such as workshops, blogs like James Gurney's or Stapleton Kearns, and online forums like Wetcanvas' plein air forum. There were also a few stories told of the kind outdoor painters have, and are scattered throughout this blog. 

Many thanks to the Utah Valley Artist Guild for inviting me, and for helping to set up and take down the display. For more information about UVAG, click anywhere in this post where the group's name is highlighted.