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This is the final portrait, it took 2 days to paint. I've never painted a portrait in oils before so I'm overall happy with this first try. When I saw that Studio Incamminati was coming I just signed up for the class, I didn't think about it being a portrait class until I showed up the first day. In the past I would have thought I should master still lives in oil before trying portraits. I realized it was my 100 heads project here that made me forget to be afraid of drawing faces. Thank you Studio Incamminati, you were an oasis in the desert and brought me back to life.
On the 4th day we put all we learned from the exercises of the first 3 days (grisaille and color studies) together to create a portrait. Funny how when I put all those pieces together it felt like everything started falling apart. This the first layer of the final portrait by the end of the day. It's the stage that makes me thankful I have a day job! I don't have a lot of experience with oil paint and it got heavy and sticky and frustrating but I also totally loved it.
On Day 3 we worked on color studies. Color studies are not about matching color they are about understanding the relationships between colors. First you slap on the color that catches your eye the most then you start relating the other colors. Are they lighter or darker? Warmer or cooler? Color studies are done quickly so you don't have time to think about it too much, you just respond to what you see. The model gave me permission to use her photo here at the blog and I think it's helpful to see the set up. They use colorful set ups so you can train your eye to see color relationships more easily.
It was by Day 3 that I also started hearing complaints of creaky shoulders, trick knees, and sore feet from standing so long. A therapeutic yoga workshop for artists is percolating...
Day two of Studio Incamminati in the Southwest. We covered closed grisaille and it helped to have a planar head next to the model so we could see how a round head actually breaks down into planes of light. I am again so impressed by the skill level and generosity of the Studio Incamminati instructors, even when they are suffering from dehydration from the desert. I am loving my art filled staycation.
Studio Incamminati has come to Albuquerque! On this first day we worked on open grisaille, an underpainting blocking in light and shadow. I felt pretty rusty as I haven't picked up a paint brush in more than 3 years but it also felt like home. So amazing to have these instructors right here and not have to pay for a flight and lodging, though I craved a hoagie from Reading Terminal on my way home...
A 10 minute sketch. I love this, written by Emilie Conrad, author of "Life on Land and creator of Continuum. It sings to my therapist/artist self.
"I see the Future Human as having a wide variety of choices in its ability to to function as a "creative consortium" not bound by segregation of any kind. The creative life is an overall "Art of Life" in which painting a portrait or restoring a spine is all in the same milieu."
Back to the drawing board. Drawings have had to step aside these days to make space for case study writing in my journey toward becoming a certified yoga therapist. 75 drawings and 67 case studies written so far. As the two worlds draw toward each other I see how both call for the same things; seeing relationships, areas of weight and space, moving from global to local to global, teasing out connection and sitting in the discomfort of uncertainty. Anatomy and something so much bigger than anatomy. The struggle of separation and the stillness of finding center.
