Catch Up

Blues vs. Oranges

These two paints are my most recent from over the long holiday weekend. They are part of a triptych which I am working on. Here I am interested in heightening the natural color of my skin and working with contrasting colors. Especially in the second one. The third painting in the series is going to be a side shot of my arm. Also I am exploring a self portrait with using the normal "mug shot" as my teacher would call it.

Opposites

For the last week I have been working on this painting. Here I am working with warm and cool colors. I am playing with them and seeing how they can really make a difference in whether something is receding into the background or pushing up to the front. I still need finish the figure in the background and figure out what the scenery is.


Puzzle

This piece is actually painted over another piece that I started and got frustrated with. In the original piece I was using a picture reference and I was having a terrible time getting the skin the right color. My teacher suggested I paint over it and just do the painting from light. I started with yellow because I need that in my skin color and it was much brighter than any of the other colors I had already used. I started to block in all my light shapes with yellow. Then I took burnt umber and put in all the darks. Once I had the two I like the simple shapes and I decided that the "right" color didn't really matter. The painting is about the shapes that the colors make and choosing the right color tone for both value and mood. The color doesn't necessarily need to be life like.

The Girls

This was a quick sketch I did of the studio girls on Friday. Originally I only had one figure the closest one, Katie. However, my teacher suggested the second figure in the background. It really helped the composition and turned a failing sketch into something with depth and interest. I was starting to get the values on the face with the closest figure, but I was still having some trouble. Now I am going to go over the lines in color and develop the figures and background more fully. I think this is a good way to expand my portfolio and get back to basics.