Portrait Drawing of Bob

Portrait of Bob Hutton, 13" x 17", carbon pencil and pastel on Pastelmat

This portrait of Bob was done for Bob and Glenda Hutton.  I first knew Bob in high school, and the Huttons have been dear friends of mine for many years.  Bob is a talented musician, actor, and former music teacher, and the Huttons live in Alaska.

Knit Scan Detail #2 from the Portrait of Dick and Catherine Marshall

Knit Scan Detail #2 from the portrait of Catherine and Dick Marshall

And to follow up, here is a second detail of Dick Marshall from the same portrait, this time created from three scans which are knitted together from top to bottom.   
To learn more about how to knit scans, just google the topic, or click on this easy tutorial I found at about.com.

"Carolina"

"Carolina", 9" x 12", detail from a 50 minute pose

My portrait of Carolina, a beautiful model and professional dancer who posed for SVA alumni at this week's Wednesday evening drawing session.  I spent another half hour or so at home, strengthening the values of this study.

from Wednesday evening live model drawing sessions at SVA

Drawn from a live model at the SVA alumni Wed. evening drawing sessions

An important part of portraiture for me is honing my skill with figure drawing from a live model, and as an alumni of the School of Visual Arts, I have been enjoying the free Wednesday evening drawing sessions they provide to all SVA alumni.  Student RA Shane has been coordinated these sessions, providing us with professional models who traditionally pose nude.
  
Nude poses help artists enormously to understand correct anatomy as it appears in various dynamics of the human figure.  The timed poses warm us up, and vary from several minutes to one 40 minute pose within each session.  The above is a detail from a 20 minute pose from last Wednesday's gathering.  Shane and the models have been great, I enjoy the camraderie, and I hope to see more of my fellow alumni and SVA buddies taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

Shifting the Light - More progress on the pastel of Sandra

photo of "Sandra" still in progress, pastel on La Carte pastelboard

 A scanned detail of the pastel in progress

I'm still working on shifting the light source on this pastel portrait of Sandra, so for a progress report, here are some views of it at it's current stage.

pastel of Sandra

"Sandra", pastel in progress on La Carte pastel board

Here is a detail from a pastel portrait of Sandy I've had on the side and am working on again.

Self Portrait at Three, completed

A scanned detail from "Self Portrait at Three"

Photo of "Self Portrait at Three", 24" x 19", pastel on Pastelmat *

It was fun to get back into this pastel portrait of myself at age three and add it's final touches.

*Sometimes a scan can really do better in matching the color, value, and depth in a work of art, so after trying a scanned detail, I've added it to the top of this post, and I'll replace this photo too, as soon as I have a scan of the full image to share.  

Princess Kate - One of Several Portrayals of Her in Silverpoint

"Princess Kate", (shown actual size), 3 7/8" x 3 1/8", silverpoint miniature portrait on prepared museum board in antiqued silver gilded wood oval

Here is the first of several portrayals of Princess Kate I have been working on this week.  This silverpoint miniature portrait is currently for sale on Etsy.  Stay tuned for another portrait of Princess Kate which I hope to post tomorrow.

Progress update on my portrait of Nelson Mandela

My portrait of Nelson Mandela in progress

I've been back at work on my portrait of Nelson Mandela, which is still in progress, but here is a detail from it that you can enjoy.  I'm portraying him shortly after his release from prison, when he honored New York City with a triumphant visit.  A small detail reflecting this is the gold apple pin worn on his lapel, which symbolizes the "Big Apple."

Value Study for a Couple's Portrait

value study in progress for a portrait of Peggy and Marcelo, charcoal & pastel,
done on one-half of a 26" x 20" warm grey acid-free paperboard

 I thought it would be interesting to share some of the various steps I use when preparing for a portrait commission.  I don't do all of these steps each time, but to demonstrate the possibilities, I'm working on several versions of this one, which my sister, Peggy, has commissioned of her and my brother-in-law, Marcelo.  This first version is based on the initial photo I took of them, and doing it in black and white allows me to explore the range of light to dark which is a key component I want to emerge in the finished painting.

Next is my sister, so stay tuned for the rest of this value study, and soon I hope to also post my self-portrait at age 3.

Completed Miniature Portrait of Marcia and Harry

"Marcia and Harry", 3 7//8" x 3", egg tempera on gessoed panel

Here is the main reference picture I used for this portrait (eliminating myself, and adding behind them the window view from the opposite corner of the restaurant.)

Here is the final version of the miniature portrait of Marcia and Harry.  I replaced my original scan with a better one, after also making a few tiny changes to the far right.  You will notice in both this instance and in the self-portrait in progress at age 3, that "rim lighting" illuminates the faces around the edges and with reflected light, giving them a soft glow.

Self-Portrait, Age 3, More Progress

"Self Portrait, Age 3" in progress, 19 1/2" x 23 1/2", pastel on Pastelmat

I'm making a bit of progress on the nuances of the facial features and starting to block in the pants and lower portions, so here's another update.  Still struggling a bit with this new surface, but I may try a little workable spray fix to see if it helps me refine things further.

Pastel in Progress - Self Portrait, Age 3

"Self Portrait, Age 3" in progress, 19 1/2" x 23 1/2", pastel on Pastelmat

I'll get back to a final post of my dual portrait soon, but last week I also started this pastel of myself at age 3, from a picture taken by the water in Long Beach, CA.  I am using Pastelmat for the first time, and in working on this I discovered it holds pastel very nicely, but also maxes out it's holding capacity sooner than I anticipated.  I'm going to see where it takes me on this surface, and if I'm not satisfied, I may try another pastel surface, or possibly try it in egg tempera and oil.

A Dual Miniature Portrait in Progress

"Marcia & Harry" (in progress), 3 7/8" x 3 1/2", egg tempera miniature portrait on true gesso panel

Several years ago after my father passed away, my Mom met Harry, and almost 2 years ago they were married.  To celebrate Harry's birthday (they have both recently turned 85 years young) and their wedding anniversary coming up in April, I'm working on this miniature portrait.  It portrays them standing in front of the picture windows of Asiate, a lovely restaurant at the top of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City which overlooks Central Park and Columbus Circle.  I had a lovely meal with them there when they came to NYC for their honeymoon.  I have a little more work to go on this one, so I'll post it once more upon it's completion. 

Commission a Pastel for your Holiday Gift

Christmas is almost upon us.  Pastel portraits take approximately two weeks 

or more to complete.  Have you commissioned your pastel gift yet?

November Update

Due to several things I'm developing offline this Fall, it's been a while since my last post, but rest assured, I welcome any portrait commission requests you may have.  Until my next portrait posts here, please also feel welcomed to check out my progress reports on "Kimberly With Roses", my spiritual portrait in egg tempera on Grander Joy of Spirit.

The Framed Self-Portrait

And here is the framing solution which I applied to this miniature painting,"Self Portrait at 34", a lovely gilded wood oval.

This self portrait will be included in an annual international miniature show in Florida.  If you are interested in purchasing it, or in receiving details about this show, please email me.

"Self Portrait at 34" Completed

"Self Portrait at 34", miniature portrait (shown @ actual size, 3 3/4" x 3") egg tempera on

Kelmscott vellum

Reference picture I took myself utilizing the self-timer on my camera, at age 34

Here is my completed self-portrait at age 34, and in this instance I thought it would be fun to show you my reference photo, since it is an old picture, although I'll leave it's actual age, vague.......... :-)

It was so much fun to go back in time with this self-portrait! The challenges I enjoyed in painting this entailed articulating the details of the rhinestone necklace at 1/6th of life size miniature scale, and also to see how well I could develop the values and colors from lightest lights to darkest darks, by using many thin translucent layers of alternating warm and cool colors glazed and scumbled on with egg tempera.

Miniature Self Portrait in Progress

"Self Portrait at 34" (in progress), egg tempera miniature painting on Kelmscott vellum

I'm really enjoying the challenge of working on this miniature portrait of myself when I was 34, painting it from my own photos which were taken with the self-timer on my camera back then.  I had fun posing in one of my all-time favorite wardrobe items, a black velvet cocktail dress.  This is shown approximately same-size as the art, so the tricky part will be to see if I can adequately articulate in paint at miniature portrait scale (1/6th of life size) the details of the rhinestone necklace I was wearing.  

Sandra

"Sandra", 22" x 19", pastel on La Carte pastel board (click the images twice to see them larger)

"Sandra" detail

I may tweak this a little more here and there for it's details, but here is the finished portrait of Sandra.