Dear painters, art aficionados, and art explorers everywhere. I would never have guessed this journal would keep my interest for so long! Join me as I learn about the processes of painting, drawing and at times, the history of art.
My website is: terirobusstudio.com

2.13.2023

Portraits 24 & 25 (& Fini!)


Hugo E. Robus, Jr.
(My husband's father, 1942)

I have come to the end (pretty much)
of my portrait explorations from tiny b&w photos
in the Shaw Field yearbook for the Army Air Forces Training Center, class of 1942.

For a refresher as to what I am talking about, 
the link 👇 will take you to the first post in the project.



I had decided that my final portrait would be of Matt's dad. But it had been awhile
since painting those portraits,
so I warmed up by painting another one first.


Robert L. Simpson, Cadet

I didn't put as much of a gap in his teeth as he actually had ... when
I tried, it just looked weird.




To begin Matt's father's portrait, I made a charcoal sketch of him, 
and used fixative to set the charcoal.
I used a hair dryer to dry the casein fixative, a pump bottle by SpectraFix.


My palette, ready to go. 

 I only took two progress photos.










Hugo E. Robus, Jr.



Ok, I think I am finally saturated with painting portraits from
the Shaw Field yearbook. 

It was very good practice, though, to paint a portrait from a tiny black & white photo. 
Admittedly, some of the pictures are wacky
but that is how I felt like doing them. 
There are some I really like, others I don't.

I asked Matt (my hubby) what actually was the color
of the cap, shirt and tie. He told me they were probably khaki, with the tie being
a darker brown, or black. So I tried to be true to that for these last two.


I tried to make a nice photomontage of the portraits, but could not figure out how
to do 25 of them ... so this is just a sampling of about half.
(I used Canva ... but did not really know what I was doing.)

It is so cool to see even these few together.



Please share this post if you know someone who might be interested. 


Cheers! and take good care!

Teri ðŸŽ¨






2.09.2023

I forgot one!

 


Not exactly sure how it happened, 
but as I counted the portraits from my
I had 23 in my hands, but only 22 entries were listed in this journal (blog).
(to refresh your memory, the link 👆 takes you to the beginning of my project).

Some digging led me to find that it was Lieutenant Owen's portrait, 
one of the "Flying Officers", that was missing. 


Here are the few painting progress photos:



Lieutenant Randolph K Owen
oil on Multimedia Artboard
8 x 6 inches


I am presently working on my most recent portrait of one of the
aviation cadets, Hugo E. Robus (my husband's father)!

... And I will make a post when finished. (This is going to be very 
challenging because the resemblance is really going to matter!!!)

Stay tuned!
Thanks so much for following along
in this studio journal
with me!

 Please hop on out to my website, too - this blog is reachable through
that as "Studio Journal" on the menu bar.

 Feel free to forward to anyone you think might be interested, 
and here is a link to sign up for my ~ monthly newsletter I call Studio News.

The menu line reads, "Keep In Touch".

🎨

Sincerely yours in art,

Teri

1.26.2023

15th Blogiversary!

Time to
Celebrate! 🎈

 In 2008 I published my first blogpost on this day. It is here but I will not be
encouraging you to read it ... very dated.

I have been painting fairly steadily ever since that first
blogpost and do not see any reason to stop.

To celebrate my 15th year of blogging (and making art), I am going to have a guest
artist on this blog! I don't think I have ever done that before.

Stay tuned for that post coming in the near future. For now, for today, I will share a couple progress shots of my recent painting.

A few days ago I heard a podcast (there were not too many of those in 2008) about an artist who will be 92 years old this May and still making work. She doesn't do the kind of art I do,
or enjoy, really ... she is considered by some the "Mother of Photorealism" -
But her voice impressed me and so I looked her up and found a video interview with her by her high school friend, Ronnie Eldridge. Produced by CUNY tv (City University of New York) about a year ago when she was 91.

I took some screen shots of her and studied her as she spoke.
Here is my journey painting her portrait:






I decided to use this shot for my portrait.
She does not look 91 does she?
It is my wish to be just like her at that age.


Next I did a study sketch.





A little back-story about the panel I used. It was an experimental
piece that I painted over so there is lots of texture!
Here is the underpainting.



Anyway, I thought I was finished, and sat with her
for a bit.
I realized I wanted to paint her very subtle earrings,
and I wanted the window behind her shoulder
to be a bit larger for more light for the cactus!

Audrey Flack at 91 
Oil on canvas panel
10" x 8"

I was going to post one of her photorealism paintings,
but you can look her up to see those if you are interested.

Thank you for reading this and if you have been reading
since 2008, a very big Bravo! to you.

For a little over a year now I have had a website
and to tell the truth,
I really enjoy it! 
There is still lots of work to do there; 
I need to add paintings, add more information about how to buy paintings, 
info about the shipping & handling, etc etc.

Here is my website address link:

and if you would like to keep in touch with me and my work, please feel
free to sign up for my newsletter "Studio News"  - link below:



12.27.2022

Our 5th Challenge Painting





Below is a photo of what I chose as an interior -
our 1st parameter. I did not use the photo as reference. 
My easel is set up in the room.





Painting by Egon Schiele - he may have used a pointed
something (pencil? end of his brush?) to incise the ripples in the water,
and the lines on the boat. 
Our 3rd parameter. 
My incised lines are on the pillow shams and the lampshade.

My sketch - done at my easel 
in the bedroom

First sketch - realized perspective was wrong ...


Following our parameter #2, I found some collage pictures
that I thought had to do with what I wanted to
convey ... dreamlike, with apparitions sitting around, 
 bed linens, wall color, lamp and night sky.




The addition of the cat snagging the comforter
was just out of the blue ...



My cohort's paintings:

Timi Johnson

Timi simplified the corner of her home
 where a coatrack stood. She used papers from her Italy trip,
and gorgeous colors.

Patrick Ripp


Patrick used a vintage style photo for the woman with the grapes,
his own photos of his (late) kitties, 
AND photos of Timi and my original paintings! I love the chaise's impasto,
and his wall brush marks and color.

I thought their paintings were terrific!
Here is mine.

Little Dipper Dreaming 
Collage and oil on Multimedia Artboard
mounted on a 1/4" birch panel, with a 3/4" cradle
11 x 14 inches


This challenge was both difficult and fun.

It was hard to figure out my composition, 
then how to incorporate the collage items ...
but I loved finding the cat to add to the bottom left corner, 
did you find it immediately or after looking for awhile?

Lastly, we painted a still life 
before having our challenge reveal.
Holiday style!


Our next challenge (#6) is in the thought stage. We have our parameters and
are finding our painting to exchange (yes ... yikes) and clarifying
exactly what all the parameters consist of.

Thank you so much for reading, commenting and supporting working artists!

Wishing you all the very best of the new year,
staying safe and healthy and doing things you love.
🎨
Teri



 

11.20.2022

Back to it! (Red Vase Still Life)

 


Back to painting again after a trip to visit family 💕. For those who are
subscribers to my newsletter I chatted a bit about that.

Jumping back in the saddle, so to speak, 
I bought a cute, fresh bouquet at Freddy's and dug up an 
old canvas with a greenish underpainting
(i forgot to take a picture of that)
and started splashing paint around.

Here are some photos, though not many in-progress.

bouquet in blue vase

the (first) painting & the bouquet


Red Vase (8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas)

While I liked that little painting,
the more I looked at it,
the more I felt it needed to
have it's (now red, not blue) vase completed!

So, I found another 8 x 8 canvas
with an old painting I could paint over, 
 and added the rest of the vase
& some blurry fruit and reflections ...
it is a tall diptych!






Red Vase Still Life
16 x 8 inches
oil on canvas


This was so much fun but I haven't forgotten about my portrait project!
I will embark on it again very soon.

For an update about my studio remodel; 
the walls are painted, we laid flooring in,
and I have decided not to paint the cabinets.
The cubbies that came from our guest room are
the same color so that makes things easier.

I will be painting the back panel of those cubbies
with a pop of color, but not a distracting pop,
something nice and calm.



It is getting there! So much organizing to do.

I would love it if you will sign up for my newsletter;
here is the link:


and my website link 👇


Thank you so much for looking at this blog ...
and the website ...
and for signing up!

Please let me know if you have any
questions about paintings,
or about painting!

Happy Turkey Day 🦃
&
Happy Painting!

🎨




10.18.2022

Portrait Practice 22


 


Pvt Cartwright is my most recent portrait - the following photos demo
how the painting developed.

(Again, if you are new or would like to refresh your memory
about my project, go HERE.)









Private Miles Cartwright

I love how this one turned out.

Thank you for reading my art journal. I will have one more (at least) painting
to do when we return from our family trip.
That will be of my late father-in-law, Hugo Edward Robus, Jr.

I may do other portraits from this yearbook; as a friend said, "Don't stop now"!
It remains to be seen if my interest holds, and it may for a few more.

Cheers and take good care!


🎨