Friday Portrait, March 14

Sorry in advance for the picture quality; I forgot my camera this morning, so was stuck with Crapcam (now with added crap! – the lens is cracked). The final pictures are sharp, though. Today’s sitter was Sara, who had gorgeous long red hair.

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Friday Portrait, March 7

Today’s sitter was Bill. He’s one of the luckiest people I know. Every month, at the Art League meeting, they have a raffle, usually with three or four prizes to be won. There are usually at least 50 people there, most of whom buy a ticket or two. Bill usually buys maybe five, but so do a lot of people. At almost every meeting I’ve attended, Bill has won a prize. Weird.

Anyway, he was a good sitter – very still, and he had a face that was fun to draw.

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Friday Portrait, February 22

Today’s sitter managed to smile almost the entire time, which is far more difficult than most people realize (but makes for much better drawings).

Friday Portrait, February 1

I didn’t catch her name, but she was a good subject. Her face had a lot of strength, and there was a smile playing at the corner of her mouth the whole time. I thought it went well today but felt bad at the end, when she asked worriedly if her face really looks that harsh. The answer, of course, is no, but the tricky thing about fast portraits is that everything (including the perceptions of the viewers) is subject to distortion and exaggeration.

I forgot my big paper today, so instead of doing a warm up sketch I did the whole thing in my little Moleskine book. It worked out surprisingly well.

(don’t worry, it gets better)

Friday Portrait, January 18

“The pupil of the eye performs a function on the physical level which aptly symbolizes that of the self, inasmuch as the latter is the nexus through which all experience and all kinds of knowledge must pass. None of the contents of experience can be unaffected by this relation, since things received always take on the qualities of the receiver…. For this reason, misunderstandings of the self lead to misunderstandings of everything else. –Robert Bolton, Self and Spirit“

(Shamelessly swiped from today’s post at One Cosmos – it seemed fitting)

Today’s sitter was Susan, who had a superhuman ability to sit still for extended periods. During the entire three hours, I think she only took three or four breaks.

Friday Portrait, January 4

Today’s sitter was Ruth, who looks very somber in this picture.  She actually had quite a good sparkle of humor (especially given that her mother called her at about 8 this morning to ask if she’d sit for us; not only did she show, she brought treats), which I think I managed to snag just a bit today.

Friday Portrait

This is Joe, the son of one of the group’s winter regulars. His wife and kids have modeled for the group already, and today was his turn.

 

Pencil and ink warmup

 

Somehow, the paper in this picture looks gray. It’s actually a pale pink, but it just goes to show how important good lighting is; fluorescents are not usually good for getting the colors right.

 

I decided to start this one using colors complementary to how it would finish. I saw this technique in the most recent Art League demonstration, and thought it would be fun to try. I wasn’t sure what the complement to brown was (for the hair), but the skin and shirt weren’t far off:

(the same image, in negative)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This last picture was taken outside, in natural light. I managed to get it home without it getting rained on.

-o.o-

 

 

 

 

Friday Portrait

Today’s sitter was rather a challenge. She had a tough time keeping her head tilted in one direction, which made it more likely most people were going to end up with Picasso-esque drawings.

Friday Portrait

 

Today’s sitter was Roberta, one of our regular artists.

 

 

I warmed up with an ink drawing today. I rather like this one, even though the likeness is a bit wonky; I just find it amusing.

Friday Portrait

 

Today’s model (whose name I didn’t get) was one of those rare seniors who actually knows more about technology, especially camera technology, than I do (not that I know all that much, but in my experience those over 65 are often rather intimidated by or simply don’t like computers and new technology). She actually lectured me about not shooting in RAW format . And she has an iPhone.

 

Anyway, here’s what I have to show for today:

 

Warm up

 

 

Pastel drawing

 

 

As penance for the wonky hands in the first drawing, I spent the last 20 minutes doing a hand study.

-o.o-