Painting Sara: Part Two (and oil study so far)

Sara. Oil Study.

Buenas tardes! Oh... I don't know if you're sick, too; but it seems like everybody I know is sick these days (including myself and my children, too). Anyways, it's not fun to paint when you're sick so, thank goodness I started this oil study last week, when I was feeling great and a lot more artsy than today :(.

Oil study... have you ever heard of that term? I hadn't until recently, it's pretty self-explanatory, though. You do an oil study before working on a larger painting. You do a mini painting where you establish the colors you are going to use, the values (how dark or light you want them), the main shapes, etc. This is an oil study. I'm so grateful it's not the final painting because, I don't know if I would send it to the competition the way it looks so far. I found this study VERY DIFFICULT. Let me share why:

1- LIGHT SOURCE. The original photograph from which I'm working has two light sources. The candle light, and bright morning sun light from the left. While the candle light is warm, the light from the left is pretty cold and it turns Sara's skin color a bit more bluish. Since the goal in this painting is JUST painting candle light reflection, I've had to imagine the other light not being there, and Sara's skin being a lot more orange/ yellow, than it looks in the picture. "Creating" things that I don't see (or pretending something I see is not there) is pretty difficult for me at this point.

This is the photograph. Do you see the light coming from the left? Do you see the shine in her hair on top of her head? That shouldn't be there because the candle light doesn't make it that far. Can you also see the blue/colder tones in the left side of her face? Those don't belong to candle light either. So, I'm working on that.

Sara. Photograph.

2- LIKENESS. As you saw in my previous post, I've drawn Sara several times and I still don't get the exact likeness. That simply tells me I just have to keep on drawing and observing. Drawing likeness is a great skill, but a difficult one to achieve.

3- MOUTH. I think I worked too much on it and have incidentally shifted it to the right. Don't you think? I'll have to move it a bit back to the left (once I stop feeling this sick and the smell of turpentine makes me want to gag!)

Here I show you a few pictures of how the study progressed.

Sara. Oil Study. 

Sara. Oil Study.

Sara. Oil Study.

Sara. Oil Study.

Sara. Oil Study. 

Anyways, this is the study so far. I still have to define details with a smaller brush. Hope we all feel better next week. Thank you for reading!!!

Candela 

SPANISH TRANSLATION of Painting Sara: Part One

SPANISH TRANSLATION of Painting Sara: Part One

Pintando a Sara: Primera parte.

Buenas Noches, Amigos! Tengo que aclarar unos puntos antes de que empecemos: 

1 - Sara, mi amiga que tan gentilmente posó para la creación de esta pintura, es una joven y bella dama. No se dejen engañar por mis bocetos y pintura ;) 

2 - Luisa Maria, mi otra amiga que también amablemente tomó las fotografías de Sara, es una gran fotógrafa. 

3 - Esta es la primera vez que trato de pintar un rostro de este tamaño,  iluminado por la luz de la vela, con todo tipo de sombras y tonos cálidos / fríos en la piel. 

4 - Aprender a pintar una cara saludable y proporcionada me está haciendo que me vaya a dormir enojada (Pinto de noche! ) 

5 - APRENDIENDO A PINTAR PIEL ME ESTA COSTANDO UN MONTON! 

Muy bien, ahora les puedo contar (y mostrar) acerca del progreso de esta pintura. El verano pasado, mi amiga Charlotte, que es un artista muy talentosa con tiza (entre otros medios), me convenció para participar en este  Concurso Internacional de Arte . Yo había pensado en ello antes, pero luego abandone la idea, cuando supe que artistas como  Rose Datoc Dall  habían participado y ganado en el pasado (tengo tres copias de sus pinturas, que son maravillosas y muy expresivas). Artistas como ella son profesionales con mucha experiencia y educación en la materia. Pero, el concurso está abierto a cualquiera que esté interesado. Yo pensé: "Bueno, no hay nada que perder! Si lo único que logro es pintar mas y mejor, igual valdría la pena". Así que, me decidí a hacerlo. Me inscribí (trago de saliva audible acá!). Las entradas se recibirán desde el 3 de noviembre de 2014 hasta el 27 de febrero 2015. Dado que el tema del concurso es "Dime la historia de Cristo" y las presentaciones deben ser sobre las enseñanzas de Jesucristo y sus apóstoles en el Nuevo Testamento, empecé a estudiar las Escrituras para encontrar inspiración (y con la esperanza de encontrar un tema bastante fácil de pintar con mi conjunto de habilidades artísticas en este momento-permítanme que les recuerde: ¡Principiante!). Me encontré con este pasaje de la Escritura en Mateo 5, en la Biblia: 

14 Vosotros sois la luz del mundo. Una ciudad asentada sobre un monte no se puede esconder. 

15 Ni se enciende una vela y se pone debajo de un almud, sino sobre el candelero, y alumbra a todos los que están en casa 

16 Así alumbre vuestra luz delante de los hombres, para que vean vuestras buenas obras, y glorifiquen a vuestro Padre que está en los cielos. 

Me sentí tan feliz al encontrar este pasaje! Inmediatamente pensé: "Podría pintar una mujer con una vela!". Que alegría me dio esta idea! Todas las otras ideas que se me pasaron por la mente requerían pintar un grupo de personas (que es bastante difícil para mí ahora) o el mismo Jesús (y este tiene que ser uno de los temas más difíciles de pintar! ¿Te imaginas? Tenes que mostrar a los demás como lo ves vos y, con suerte, enseñar un hermoso mensaje al espectador al mismo tiempo!). Entonces pensé en mi amiga Sara, que es una chica lindisima. No sé por qué, pero me imagino a las mujeres de las Escrituras muy parecidas a ella. Le pedí que posara para unas fotos que más tarde inspirarían la pintura. Ella aceptó y entonces mi amiga Luisa María aceptó el desafío de fotografiarla a la luz de las vela. Las tres finalmente nos reunimos (y nuestros hijos, que estaban corriendo por todos lados en la casa de Luisa María!) y logramos sacar unas hermosas fotos. Éstas son algunas de mis favoritas:

ME ENCANTA ESTA!

Entonces me puse a dibujar. Intente con carbon, lápiz, pluma, y ​óleos. Los resultados, digamos, dan un poquito de miedo!! haha ESTO VA A ESTAR COMPLICADO! ... pero me alegra mucho saber que estoy intentando! Sólo significa que me estoy esforzando en el desarrollo de nuevas habilidades y eso siempre es beneficioso. Ahora ... ¿estás listo para ver los dibujos? Aca vamos con algunas de mis interpretaciones :). Y Sara, por favor, no te ofendas ... este es un trabajo en progreso! :)

Sara. Bosquejo en carbon.

Sara. Dibujo a lápiz.

Sara. Bosquejo con tinta.

Sara. Bosquejo con tinta.

Sara. Bosquejo con tinta.

Sara. Bosquejo en oleos antes de comenzar un estudio de colores.

Bueno Amigos, espero que sigan visitandome para ver como sale la pintura!. Les soy sincera: va a estar medio fea antes de que se ponga linda, pero tengan paciencia conmigo. Tengo la sensación de que voy a aprender grandes cosas con esta experiencia, y que este es sólo el comienzo de la aventura de pintar gente que temerosamente he evitado hasta ahora. Bueno, es tarde y me tengo que ir a dormir! 

¡Gracias por leer!

Candela

Painting Sara: Part One.

Buenas Noches, Amigos! Few disclaimers before we get started here:

1- Sara, my friend who so graciously posed for the creation of this painting, is a beautiful young lady. Don't be fooled by my sketches and painting ;)
2- Luisa Maria, my other friend who also graciously took the photographs of Sara, is a great photographer.
3- This is the very first time I'm attempting to paint a full face of this size, lit by candle light, with all sorts of shadows and warm/colder tones on the skin.
4- Learning to paint a healthy, proportionate face is making me go to bed angry (I told you I paint at night!)
5- LEARNING TO PAINT SKIN IS KICKING MY TRASH!

Alright, then. I can now tell you (and show you) about this painting's progress. This past summer, my friend Charlotte, who is a very talented chalk artist (among other media), convinced me to participate in this International Art Competition. I had thought about it before, but then abandoned the thought, when I knew that artists like Rose Datoc Dall had participated and won in the past (I own three prints of her paintings, they are wonderful and very moving). I mean, these are professional artists with a lot of experience and education in the matter. But, the competition is open to anyone who's interested. I thought, "Well, there's nothing to lose! All it can do is push me to paint more and hopefully create something better than I would otherwise". So, I decided to do it. I registered (gulp!). Entries are due November 3rd, 2014 until February 27th, 2015.

Since the topic is "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus" and the submissions should be about the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Apostles in the New Testament, I started studying the scriptures to find some inspiration (and an easy enough subject to paint with my skill set at this point -let me remind you: Beginner!!). I came across this scripture passage in Matthew 5, in the Bible:

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.

I was so happy to find this passage! Immediately I thought, "I could paint a woman holding a candle!". This was a very happy thought, indeed. All the other ideas required painting a group of people (which is pretty challenging for me now) or Jesus himself (and that has got to be one of the most difficult subjects to paint ever! Do you imagine? You have to show others how you see him and, hopefully, teach a beautiful message to the viewer at the same time!). Then I thought about my friend Sara, who is such a beautiful lady. I don't know why, but I imagine women from the scriptures looking a lot like her. I asked her to pose for some pictures that would later inspire this painting. She accepted and then my friend Luisa Maria accepted the challenge to photograph her in candle light.

All three of us finally got together (and our children, who were running all over Luisa Maria's house!) and got some pictures taken. Here are some of my favorites:

I LOVE this one!!!!!

Then I got sketching. I tried charcoal, pencil, pen, and oils. The results kind of got scarier and scarier with each one of the aforementioned media! Oh man! This is going to be really challenging... but I'M SO GLAD I'M DOING IT! It only means that I'm working harder at developing new skills and that's  always beneficial. Now... are you ready for this? Here we go with some of my interpretations :). And Sara, please don't be offended... this is a work in progress!!! :)

Sara. Charcoal sketch.

Sara. Pencil sketch.

Sara. Pen sketch.

Sara. Pen sketch.

Sara. Pen sketch.

Sara. Oil sketch before color study.

Well Amigos, I hope you stick around to see how this painting develops. It's going to get ugly before it gets beautiful, but be patient with me. I have the feeling I'm going to learn great things from this experience, and that this is only the beginning of the Painting-People adventure that I have always fearfully tried to avoid. Now I need to go to bed. 

Thank you for reading!!!

Candela

Art Books I'm reading: Painting Portraits by Everett Raymond Kinstler

Hello Amigos and... man is it cold these days! I can't believe how many layers of clothing one has to wear in order to feel comfortable (note I didn't say "warm", just comfortable. I don't like the cold!)
Anyways, I just finished reading another book on painting. It's called "Painting Portraits" by Everett Raymond Kinstler. This one (like most of the books I read) was also in my local public library. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. It's definitely different from the one by Sanden (you can read that book review here). This book isn't so focused on color mixing and basic techniques as it is on professionalism as an artist and composition. At least that's the impression I have. Some of the things I learned (and liked) about this book are listed bellow.

1- Excellent images. All of the shown portraits are beautifully done. I also liked how he included previous stages of progress in some of them as well. Here are some good ones:

WILLIAM P. CLARK- "Painting Portraits" by Everett Raymond Kinstler

WILLIAM P CLARK- "Painting Portraits" by Everett Raymond Kinstler

2- Staging with Light vs. Dark Drapes. I thought I was interesting how he uses different color of drapes in order to stage the portraits he paints in his studio. I didn't know this, but he suggested it's better to use lighter color of drapes behind subjects with darker hair, or women, to add more delicacy to the portrait. On the other hand, he suggests a dark drape behind males or subjects with lighter hair.

ANNA BELLE HEYWARD- "Painting Portraits" by Everett Raymond Kinstler

IRENE DUPONT- "Painting Portraits" by Everett Raymond Kinstler

MILLARD MIDONICK- "Painting Portraits" by Everett Raymond Kinstler

2- Filbert Brushes. I don't own a single brush like these. They are bristle brushes that don't fan out with pressure is applied to them. Here are some used and new:

Filbert Brush via About.com

He says this is his favorite kind, since you can do pretty much anything with them, as long as you own several sizes. I'm excited to try this kind!

3- A Rag!!! In one of his portraits he describes how he did a wash (when you dilute your paint with a lot of solvent) on the prepared canvas WITH A RAG. How messy does that sound? A lot. But I want to try it. 

4- Not an "Alla Prima" Portrait Painter. This means that he takes more than just one sitting to finish his paintings. He works on several painting sessions with his clients and uses resources like photography and interviews in order to study his model. He also works on most of the painting at the same time. Sanden (the author I previously wrote about) said it was important to finish a section of the painting before moving on to the next one. Kinstler advices to work on the whole composition at the same time. I think I can do that better than working in sections. Because of my lack of experience, I may make a section look like it doesn't belong in the painting if I work on it later. I may miss the color composition and it looks like something "doesn't belong" there. 

5- Composition. Kinstler shares a lot of advice about the arrangement of the model and the background.  Because of his training as an illustrator, he's used to creating things, even when they're not there, not in front of him as he paints. He shows examples of created backgrounds with maybe "windows" that weren't there initially or different objects that simply enhance the composition (pillars, decorations, drapery, etc.) The key is to never make the background stand out too much, since it's not the purpose of the painting. He does a great job at creating beautiful compositions that highlight the sitter instead of distracting the viewer.

In a nutshell, this is a good book. Very different from Sanden's, but also very useful. Check it out!

Candela

The Couple

THE COUPLE, oil on canvas,  9x12.

Hello amigos mios! Thank you all for your nice comments on facebook and for visiting me here. You've all been so kind and encouraging. I feel pumped! So, here we go with another one. This is "The Couple". I found inspiration for this one while visiting National Geographic's website. This specific image is called "MOMA Monet Couple". Goodness! They have the most beautiful pictures ever. If you're looking for color, they have it. If you're in the mood for beautiful composition, they have it. Magical pictures about nature? They also have them. Beautiful people? Yep, they have pictures of them, too. Let me show you the picture that inspired this one.

MOMA Monet Couple via nationalgeographic.com 

I have to admit, this picture looks like a painting already. Don't you think? The arrangement of the couple in terms of where they are situated in the whole frame is gorgeous. Their position, the color of their clothes, hair, background... it all belongs together. This is why, amigos, National Geographic is a great resource to find inspiration.

I actually painted this one a bit over a year ago. My husband was away for training and I missed him so much I wanted to paint a couple. Actually, I NEEDED to paint a couple! And I found this one. After painting it, I realized I don't look anything like that girl. And my husband's hair is blond and straight. So I realized it belonged to somebody else... to my friends Ashley and Eric, who actually look like "The Couple". Thank you Ashley, for sending this picture!

The Couple, by Candela Rice.

Since it was created when I hadn't yet considered writing a blog, I don't have step by step pictures. But I can tell you what I did.

To that point (and I still do it a lot), I had usually just drawn whatever I wanted to paint with pencil first. On this painting, however, I never used a pencil. I outlined everything with a brush. I made myself do it. It was intimidating, but I liked the results. I used burnt umber to do the outline. For the background I did a wash of burnt sienna, cadmium red light, yellow ochre, titanium white, and light yellow. You may wonder what a wash is. It's when you dilute your paint with a lot of paint thinner. The nice thing about a wash is that it dries super quickly and it looks a bit water-colorish! (and that's nice when you have a background as complex as the one on the photograph.)

The colors I used:

Girl's hair: yellow ochre, titanium white, burnt sienna.
Guy's hair: burnt sienna, burnt amber, yellow ochre, titanium white.
Darkest shadows: burnt amber, ultramarine blue.
Skirt: cadmium red light, titanium white, some yellow ochre, ultramarine blue.
Girl's shirt: titanium white, burnt umber
Guy's shirt and pants: ultramarine blue, titanium white, burnt umber.

Things I learned from this painting:

Drawing with a brush can be intimidating, but it saves you time! It does give the painting a bit of a different feel (unless you completely paint over your outlines), more like a comic or cartoon drawing. Like this:

I'm exaggerating a bit, but you get my point. Do you see the outline and the coloring inside of it? That's what I mean. It's a different effect. Some painters never show an outline, others leave it all the time. It's a matter of taste. And... if you're wondering who "Mafalda" is, go here. She's quite the Argentine spicy little lady.

I also learned that hair is still a bit difficult to represent with paint. Hopefully the highlights on their hair let you see the resemblance with the picture.

Things I could improve/ change: 

I could add more color to the background.

The girl's arm needs a bit more muscle :)

The skirt... I never quite knew what to do with it. I probably should have just painted it brown!! I happen to love red on paintings and always want to find a place for it!

Thank you for reading and painting with me!! 

Candela