Nationally Known Singer/Locally Known Artist's Model

7" x 5" Oil on Panel

This is a little portrait study I painted at last week's Wednesday night portrait session. There was a full house at the session, so the only place for me to set up was right square in front of the model. Because of that, I didn't get to paint her long dark hair which was pulled back in a ponytail. Painters and drawers had about three hours to work from the model. My little oil sketch could use some more work, but when time is called at the end of these sessions, I consider myself done even if the sketch isn't. After all, it's just a study; an exercise. Kind of like how musicians practice before concerts, actors rehearse before plays, and athletes work out before games.

The model originally scheduled for last Wednesday's portrait session didn't show. However, the man who runs the sessions has connections, so a substitute model was called in. Not an ordinary model, though. The model for our session last week is a local singer/songwriter who has appeared on NBC's The Voice, and been featured in a Scott Bradley video, and who goes by the name of Belle Jewel. The studio owner's connection to the singer? She's his daughter.

If you're interested, you can find out more about Belle Jewel at her YouTube channel.

Here's her video on Scott Bradley's Postmodern Jukebox: 

And one of her performances on The Voice:

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

Merry Christmas 2015!

12" x 12" Oil on Canvas Panel

Last week Santa Claus modeled for us at  Casey Childs studio! For this oil sketch I used a three color palette: cadmium yellow, cadmium red, and ivory black, plus titanium white.

It was fun in spite of the challenges. I set up at a spot that had flat lighting and no shape-defining shadows. I absolutely love drawing and painting faces, but so little of the jolly guy's face was visible. The portrait is dominated by a shapeless red suit and a mile-long polyester beard. But maybe that's not important because, after all, I got to paint Santa!

Besides that, there was lots of cookies and chocolate for us to enjoy during breaks!

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Here's a Christmas Video I enjoyed on YouTube. If you haven't had a chance to see it, here's your opportunity:

Merry Christmas everyone!

Painting Big Again, and a New Video.

Most of the paintings I've made this year have been on the small side, mostly 9" x 12"s or 8" x 10"s. A few 12" x 16"s have been as big as I've done all year. Because of that, I was wondering if I should "ease" into making much bigger (24" x 36") paintings this year. But then I thought, "Nah - just do it!" So late last week I did. The photo above shows the 24" x 36" painting on location on the easel. I haven't photographed the painting by itself yet, but as soon as I do it'll be put on this blog.

Last year around this time I was painting large plein air pieces in the same area and was filmed by one of the local residents. The video shows me adding some final touches to the painting pictured at the top of another blog post. He put the video up on a website called "Springcreek Conservation." Here's a link to the video on their site:

http://www.springcreekconservation.com/the-painter/

Or you can see it on their Vimeo channel here:

https://vimeo.com/134161476

If for some reason the links don't work, you can copy and paste those web addresses into your browser. While you're on their channel, check out some of their other videos. They've got some neat stuff there!

Demonstration - Charcoal Drawing on Grey Paper

14" x 11" Charcoal on Paper

This is another drawing made from a live model at the drawing sessions I attend. It's charcoal and "white charcoal" on grey paper. During this session I took progress photos of the drawing. Later I combined those photos into a video showing how the drawing was made. You can find links to the video below.

Because of time constraints, my concern early on in the drawing is to put basic shapes down as quickly and accurately as possible, but not very neatly. At that point I'm not too concerned about details. About halfway through the video the drawing might not look quite right, but things are basically in the right places. Details and refinement come later.

It's a short video, roughly a minute and a half long. I hope you enjoy it and find it useful!

If the embedded player doesn't work for you, you can find the video on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmzPTso4i-U

Or on Vimeo here:

https://vimeo.com/118313403

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

A Charcoal Sketch and a Video

14" x 11" Charcoal on Tinted Paper

It's about time for another portrait sketch blog post, I think. This sketch is the beginning of a larger project I have planned. It's a project that'll involve more people and things than I've worked with before, and I'm excited to finally get it started. I'll write more about that project once I get a better handle on it and it begins to take shape. In the mean time, I thought you might enjoy seeing this sketch.

The sketch is of film producer and actor Paul D. Hunt, of Mainstay Productions. He was kind enough to sit in as one of the models for my project. Here's a sample of one of the many films he's worked on or been in, "Finnick and Annie":

For those whose operating systems won't open the video, you can try this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_MNmhZvYeg