continuation of "posing proud in hobart" and life drawing/painting session

next steps on "posing proud in hobart"

i have only worked dribs and drabs on the current painting from an archival photo. basically finishing the deep shadow background on the porch behind the figures and working on their clothing. rather than going for the value and color right off the bat i am trying a little different technique. i am putting down the local color and value first. this is most noticeable on the overalls. when this is dry i am putting in the folds, wrinkles, and shadows in a darker and less saturated wash. so still only two layers that allow the paint to look fresh but also give me a little control over the texture. all this was done with a #10 round sable brush. the ultramarine blue was grayed down with raw umber. the rest is just going to be putting some texture on the building and trying to figure what to do with the far left side of the painting. in the photo the building ends and there is a side yard complete with a variety of objects and debris. i am not sure that i want that. one option would be to end the building and put in the sky and distant landscape up to the building plane. another would be to put a fence and some scrub, rocks, etc. another would be just to extend the building with clapboards much like on the right side. what to do, what to do? hmmmm. as you note i put some plants and grasses along the bottom of the building on the right. i have also experimented with how to put texture on the scaly, cracked logs that make up the posts and lintels. above the porch i tried press stamping some dull brownish paint on with a strip of foam core. interesting but not exactly what i was looking for. i think that a combination of spatters, dry brush, and painted low value cracks will be better. the last thing that i am going to have to avoid is endless fussing with the facial features. i say this because i have already been guilty of that!

15-minute pose

earlier this week i went to the life drawing/painting session at the vitamin studio. i have been a bit hit and miss lately and i think it shows in the work. there were three substantive poses of 15, 25 and 35 minutes. i have been working on trying to go with the gesture and big shapes and only going back with some details if time remains and the paint has dried sufficiently. additionally i have been trying to get as much separation of body parts as possible if they are in different planes using color and value. those that are in the same plane i have tried to resist fussing and just paint them as one bigger shape and come back later and re-find an edge if it seems reasonable. to these two ends i think that i am starting to get the hang of it. the drawing? needs some practice!

25-minute pose 

35-minute pose