Self Portrait in coloured pencil

Friday 30 March 2018

Walter


Walter

I am enjoying painting Walter’s portrait. It has come along nicely since I started to go over all the oil on canvas portraits using tones of brown ochre and using hints of Venetian red rather than the more orangey light red. 
It won’t be long before I have to paint in his moustache. That will be an interesting challenge.
His clothes are complicated too.
I am continuing to have ten portraits on the go, all sitting on picture shelves. I have two new ones ready to start as soon as I have space to put them. 

I mentioned last week that I had been very interested in the Civilisations episode about religious painting. 
I am a Nichiren Buddhist. Nichiren Daishonin inscribed a scroll with calligraphy of which he wrote: "I, Nichiren, have inscribed my life in sumi ink”. We Nichiren Buddhists enshrine a copy of this scroll in our homes and don’t generally go in for images of Buddhas. 
In another letter, Nichiren Daishonin wrote that he was ”cursed with an ugly appearance”. He had a couple of portraits painted during his lifetime that show he was not a handsome man but they do portray a kind man. 
After his death, statues were erected, and each one is more beautified than the last. 
I have noticed that beautification is common when it comes to painting religious figures.









Friday 23 March 2018

Lady in Sunglasses


Lady in Sunglasses

This is not going to be the easiest oil on canvas portrait that I am going to do. I can’t see the lady’s eyes behind her sunglasses. But I can see her charming smile.
The sunglasses are making some interesting shadows and reflections on her cheeks (which I haven’t painted yet). Meanwhile, I have been concentrating on blending the highlights. And now she has a mouth and an indication of where her teeth are. Teeth take a lot of blending to get them to sit back in a mouth nicely. There is nothing worse than a portrait with shining white teeth!

I am sorry that this is such a short post. I was going to write about last night’s episode of Civilisations on BBC2. It was very interesting on the subject of religious art. But I fell asleep this afternoon and I can’t write a quick note on such an important topic. It will take a few edits. Look out for it soon.


Friday 16 March 2018

Baby Has Eyes


Baby Has Eyes

I have been working hard painting this week. I spend about an hour on each portrait then I put them on the shelf to dry. 
I have changed my favourite brand of paint to Talens Rembrandt oil colours. I bought a selection of them and discovered that a very good cool skin tone is brown ochre mixed with lots of white, and a touch of light red oxide for rosy cheeks. My original selection didn’t include raw umber, so I ordered that, and some transparent oxide brown to try out.
Once I had the raw umber I was able to paint the baby’s eyes. They are a hazel brown and the rest of my browns were reddish. No good at all!
His eyes aren’t quite in the right place because I couldn’t rest my hand on the painting to do them - the paint was wet.
I would get more done (maybe) if I didn’t spend a lot of time picking tiny cat hairs out of the paint. I have tried tweezers but I can’t find any precise enough. I sometimes manage to scrape them off with a small palette knife if I find them before they are embedded in the paint.
Does anyone know a good solution? 



Friday 9 March 2018

Viewing Art


Viewing Art

I watched Civilisations on BBC 2 last night. This episode was relevant to me and my portraits as it was about what the viewer brings to the depiction of the human face. Mary Beard had some pertinent comments to make about how taste in art is influenced by culture. 

When I paint or draw a portrait I am very conscious of the relationship of my client to the subject, and, if my client wants a portrait of themself, I try to be aware of how they want to be viewed by their friends. 
It took me a while to decide which portrait to choose to illustrate this, and finally, I decided that the portrait of Tyla would be a good example. 
I had met Tyla and knew that she was a dog of great character. She had a lot to say in rather growly tones when she greeted me and she was so much loved. As it was a surprise birthday present, she was brought to my house so I could take reference photos. I wanted her to face the window for the good light, but there was a door behind her and my two dogs were snuffling under that door. Fortunately I had some bits of chicken, so I was able to attract her attention, but not fully, as even when she had her nose pointed in my (ie the chicken’s) direction, her gaze was still over her shoulder to check on the snuffles. 
I wanted to capture the look of a dog gazing adoringly at her guardian. I know that look well as I have dogs myself. So I was able to get the look I wanted. 
As Tyla has a wonderful brindled coat it took me much longer to paint than I hoped and I missed the deadline of the birthday. So I scanned the unfinished portrait and made a birthday card of it. It was seriously unfinished but it was still recognised. I was told about it. He exclaimed "That’s my dog!" So I am sure I succeeded.
As I mostly paint or draw family portraits, I aim for an affectionate expression. It isn’t too difficult if they are with their family like children accompanied by their mother. But I remember one occasion when I was struggling to get usable photos of two young sisters until I was inspired to give them the camera and ask them to photograph each other. 
I have been commissioned to do mostly children or pets of recent years. But I have always enjoyed painting adult portraits too. 






Friday 2 March 2018

Lynx Kitten


Lynx Kitten

It is three years since I drew the lynx kitten, but I am entering it in an exhibition at the Gallery of the Eden Valley Artistic Network 
http://www.edenvalleyartisticnetwork.co.uk/

It is a 4 x 6 inch pen and ink drawing on graphic film, coloured on the reverse with coloured pencils.

I always used to work on paper, until I started to work in acrylics and gouache. I struggled with the problem of the paper buckling. Paper can even buckle using a dry medium like pastel, especially in damp weather, and now I was living in the Eden Valley. I have known it to rain here when the sky was blue and there was no cloud to be seen.
I had to make a change, and I discovered that graphic film is "dimensionally stable". I understand this to mean it stays flat no matter how damp it gets. So I started painting in gouache on graphic film and I had no more problems.
Graphic film is translucent, so I got an idea. I drew on the first side of double-sided graphic film with pen and ink, then I coloured the reverse side with coloured pencils and the colour showed through beautifully though it was muted.
It is an interesting challenge to paint the reverse side. I imagine that it must be like glass painting. When painting on paper you paint the most important details on top of the underpainting. If you do that on the reverse of graphic film you would never see them. So first you paint the important details, then the underpainting on top of that.
You have to keep looking at the right side to see what the finished drawing will look like.
One important thing to know about graphic film is that the pen, pencil or paint sticks to a special film coating on the outside. If you make an error, never scratch it off. That takes off the coating and leaves a shiny surface that nothing will stick to. You can use water to remove mistakes but that will leave white water spots. I haven’t found anything that will clean off the spots.
I can’t think of anything else to help anyone who wants to try this technique but I am happy to answer any questions - if I know the answer!