ted nuttall workshop day #4 and a second painting

as i indicated yesterday i did get a chance to start another painting during the last day and an hour of the workshop. i decided with ted's suggestion to have another go on the portrait of marlene from pine ridge reservation. i have painted her a number of times. although i have been fairly happy with two of them, they did leave me wanting to do a better job once i had the opportunity (read skills). i had drawn her likeness on a piece of 15"X20", #300, hot press arches paper.

drawing and first washes

i started out by putting a light wash of flesh type colors and let them mingle on the paper. these were scarlet lake, cadmium orange, and cerulean blue. while these are typically ones that might be used fro caucasian skin i will have to find a way to darken it a bit as i move along, although her features say lakota pretty strongly. i carried this was over to the edge of the paper in few places and down into her clothing. after that dried, i put in a slightly darker wash of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna over the hair area. i used a #26 round dynasty cosmotop f brush for this. this needed to be bone dry before proceeding.

eye detail

next step #1

i started the features with the eyes. same colors, but with #16 round brush of same make and model. the fold above the eye and under the upper lid with a darker version of the mixed flesh color. i added some arbitrary color as i moved along and i couldn't tell you exactly what i used but i suspect it was hooker's green, mineral violet, alizarin crimson, and even cadmium red light in places. this just for interest. the iris was painted with burnt umber , switching to cobalt blue in spots and then puling the pigment down to the lower lid with a damp clean brush. the shape of the iris as i goes behind the lower lid defines the lower lid placement and shape. i then pulled that pigment across to further define the lower lid. the rest of the socket shapes were then added. all of these washes on the skin were about 10-15% pigment, so light in value. next i moved on to the nose, followed closely by other form shadows on her face.  the rest of the progress i will document with serial photos of progress with minimal description unless something truly significant comes to my mind as i upload the images.


so, what's different? well, up until now i didn't handle multiple light washes on top of each other.

next step #2

they became muddled and muddy. i suspect that both they and i were too heavy (handed in my case). now i seem to be able to get them down, one atop the other, without much trouble. although i have put as many 6-8 "coats" on some of this it still remains fresh, transparent, and (dare i say it?) loose. another difference is that i am being much more judicious about the use of arbitrary color. it had gotten to the point that in my zeal for color that the blues, violets, and at times, greens looked more like paint on their faces than subtle shading. if you look closely there is mineral violet, hooker's green, and cerulean blue present but it isn't overpowering. perhaps the last major difference is that i put the warm pigments down (not worrying about color) until i had them built up to the correct value and then brought them to the "proper" temperature with a light glaze of ultramarine blue. this rarely changed the value but cooled down the intensity of the reds. the result was a pretty good approximation of marlene's skin color and added to describing her facial structure.

i think the face is just about done. i need to do some work on the hair and decide on what to add to the already subtle background shapes. i have already decided to go with a minimalist approach to her shirt letting pigment sort of "peter" out as i worked down to the bottom.

final step before adjournment of workshop

i packed up at 4pm wishing that i had another day, or two, or a week. ted is a great guy and excellent teacher. his last day session on composition was eye-opening and may have been one of the high points for me. no dogma , except to maybe ignore much of it. from starting with the size and shape of the paper that helps him say what he wants with the painting, to the placement of the figures on the sheet, to the cropping of the photos before hand on photoshop, all are invaluable lessons almost worth the price of admission on their own....okay, not really....but quite practical. i am looking forward to his trip to la crosse next june