Portrait Practice 2

 

Take it or leave it ... the main thing is the practice.

I didn't like this one, but did paint it fairly quickly.

Thanks for checking in, I will be posting without much "talking",

so that will be easy ... for you too, dear reader.

Take good care!

If you haven't been, here is 

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My Website 

please visit when you can, and sign up for my approx monthly newsletter! 

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👆that is a palette, badly drawn 😁

New Project ... Portrait practice

My husband found a yearbook in his parents things that we have had in storage. 

It is the 1942 "Southeast Army Air Force Training Center" yearbook (for lack of a better word), 

where his Dad did training and was pictured.

We didn't know what to do with it but did not want to throw it away. I had the flash of an idea to use the photos of the cadets (and officers) as practice for portrait painting.

I admired the painter, Karin Jurick (02/09/1961 - 06/16/2021). One of her projects

was painting mugshots from her city police department, which are public record. She also did mugshots for a certain ex-president.

Her website is a beautiful thing and I encourage you to go visit.

(my link did not work, so you just have to google her)

Here is an example of one of her tiny 4x4 mugshot paintings.

eww ...

BUST-ED is Karin's blog about these paintings.

My first painting is of 
this guy -

Colonel William W. Welsh.

I actually like how this one turned out.

But for some of the upcoming portraits I painted after this  ...  I don't.

However, I am going to post them to see if I will 

see any progress.

Most of the pictures in the yearbook are about 1-inch square, some a little bigger. 

My goal is to get a subtle likeness, at least an interesting picture, 

on a small canvas (these are 6 x 8's),

with one to three brushes, not too many brushstrokes, 

and not take too long (a few hours).

I am thinking of also painting Matt's Dad, 

when I feel like I can do the painting justice.

Ok, stay tuned for the next post that will show

 a couple more paintings in the order I painted them. That is

the way I will post them, just a few at a time.

Thank you for reading and stay healthy and safe.

🎨

TeriRobusStudio

A little blurring helps, or hinders when painting?

Greetings Studio Journal readers!

I've been painting several still life flower paintings recently. Flowers

are available (specially in the summer) and colorful and readymade for a painting.

The following pictures will show some of my work 

painting a little petunia bouquet.

I snipped them from my hanging basket, bought

at Glacier Gardens/Yard Doctor Nursery

early in the summer.

This sketch is to set my composition and try

a few color choices, with Blick Studio felt pens. 

I really liked how the shadow turned out!

Hope it will be as nice with paint. 🤞

Such pretty colors!

I found a panel I had made with two sheets of Arches oil paper, side-by-side, like a diptych,

underpainted with orange, each about 8 x 5 inches.

I had no notion of making two paintings, but while working

on the first one, on the left, I thought - why not try to do the same

painting with the paper on the right without wearing my glasses?

My challenge is to first mix up the paint i need, 

then take off my glasses and paint. 

Whoa! It is very difficult.

The following are the left-side painting photos in-progress 

(with glasses, before I thought of the no-glasses thing):

And these 👇 are when I began painting the right side, without glasses.

I didn't take any progress pics. 

Who can operate a camera phone without glasses? 😳

(mostly i just forgot)

I had painted a leaf laying on the table, but wiped it
(yes, i remembered to take off my glasses).

Here are the two in-progress paintings, L with glasses and R without.

"Final" paintings (not a lot different, but a little)

Petunia Bouquet 
oil on paper
8 x 5.5 inches
(glasses on)

Petunia Bouquet II
oil on paper
8 x 5.5 inches
(glasses off)

I know which one I like the best, but actually only by a little. I think it is because I am learning to be more careful with my edges, making them not so crisp and 

on the whole, using more sgraffito & scumbling technniques

at times for a more painterly i.e. interesting, effect.

This method is very hard for me to do. I think it would take lots of planning

and patience! to do it all the time.

 But - I think it is a valuable thing to try because it 

definitely removes ANY nitpicking tendencies you i may have developed.

So I may do it as an exercise now and then.

Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

🎨

If you want to mosey over to my website:

TeriRobusStudio

And if you want to see new paintings before anyone else,

please sign up for my newsletter!

Teri's mostly monthly newsletter

"City People" - part 2

City People 3

I liked these people! This is the third painting. They're levitating! 

 12 x 9 oil on Masonite

For an even closer view, I grabbed an 8 x 8

and tried again. Here is my cropped original for the 4th painting.

This couple is so unique! I just love them.

City People 4    oil on canvas    8 x 8 inches

 Well, there you have it. My obsession. I may not be finished with them yet!

Here they are all together, in order of completion. 

City People 1, 2, 3, 4

Thanks so much for reading.

Stay vigilant and safe.

🎨

Here's the link to my website if you have some time to browse. I would like any feedback you care to give me about my site, there is lots more work to be done on it for sure.

Teri's Website

Working Title "City People" - part 1

 

I took this photo from my hip as I was waiting for the walk sign. 
Loved how the people in the hats looked. This was ages ago,

in Seattle.

 I put the photo in my To Paint? album, which I look at now and then

and grab something out to paint.

I have become obsessed with those two people.

Here is part 1 - the story of my obsession:

Tiny thumbnail sketch

2nd small sketch, people closer

City People - study    oil on Multimed. artboard  10x8 inches

Kind of liked the study, so got a ~ 20 x 16 canvas 

that I had washed with India Yellow over an abstract painting start

and mounted it to a cradled wood panel,

and started the painting.

City People    oil on panel  20 x 16 inches

So that is the start of the obsession.

Part 2 will be upcoming.

Thank you for reading!

🎨

Just in case you want to look around at my website:

TeriRobusStudio

note: i have not put this painting up on my website yet

My "little" painting trip to New Mexico!

#1   Pleinair painters (lots) at El Santuario de Chimayó
10 x 8 inches    oil on Multimedia artboard

My site and set-up (I loved the scallop thing on the adobe wall).

Thumbnail sketch to get me started.

May was a busy month, I can't believe it is June!

I traveled to Albuquerque and then to Santa Fe, New Mexico, 

to attend the 9th annual PACE (Pleinair Convention & Expo).

After a delay of two years, it was super exciting ... 

but people were hoping it wouldn't turn into a Super Spreader event. 

I have not heard that it has, 

but there was talk of some people coming down with the virus.

Luckily I did not, and wore my mask when in demos 

and in the expo crowd.

I made 5 paintings, learning from each one, and I will show you them 

along with my set-up and site, like #1 above.

The next spot we traveled (there were usually 2 or 3 huge air-conditioned busses) was Santa Fe proper. We set up wherever suited our fancy, keeping near the center square.

#2   La Fonda (The Inn) Santa Fe
7 x 5 inches   oil on Artefex Alcot aluminum panel

I had a perfect set-up away from the wind with shade!

Next day we went to El Rancho de Las Golondrinas (the ranch of the swallows). 

This year is their 50th anniversary.

It was very windy and dusty, but I did find a spot to set up to paint 

the old waterwheel and mill house; 

first I made sketch of a cool adobe building near the goat barns.

Thumbnail for La Fonda, and the adobe building at Golodrinas.

thumbnail sketch

#3  Waterwheel & Mill House
El Ranco de Las Golodrinas
6 x 8 inches   oil on ultralight multimedia artboard

This one still needs a bit of work.

Our last trip was to Ghost Ranch, the stomping grounds for Georgia O'Keeffe.

I made a painting standing outside a little cottage that had a sign with her name on it.

Cerro Pedernal means flint hill.

Now usually people just call it Pedernal.

#4  Cerro Pedernal from Ghost Ranch    oil on Masonite   8 x 10 inches

#5  Cow Skull at Ghost House   oil on Arches paper  8 x 6 inches

This last painting was done from a skull hanging on the adobe

of Ghost House, an old residence on the ranch. Please look up

Georgia's skull paintings, or any of her paintings ... they are wonderful.

One more thing ... before the conference began,
I met my daughter who flew in from Austin, in Albuquerque. We drove to Santa Fe and she stayed with me for the first few days! We had a blast going exploring (Meow Wolf, a brewery, The Sopapilla Factory) hiking and hanging out.

We hiked to a beautiful overlook and painted with watercolors she brought.

I hope you are all enjoying summer (northern hemisphere people anyway)!

Continue to take care, stay healthy and keep painting!

🎨

yep