Work in progress, or finished piece?

I'm enjoying a lovely holiday in England at the moment, but I managed to squeeze in some painting time at the weekend, between the laundry, packing and general getting ready for a holiday. This is the first time I started a painting on a black background, but I really like the effect. So much so, that I'm not sure where to go with it now, or rather, if I want to go anywhere else with it. It can often be hard to decide, when a painting is done. And sometimes, it is done long before you thought it might be. And even though I can see quite a few areas that could do with some fixing, I think I might just leave it as it is.

And now I'll go and practice drawing some noses.... But first we're off to Bournemouth for the day, to see the Alfons Mucha exhibition.

100 portraits: #32 and #33

Two more portraits in my series of 100 portraits. I still have a long way to go, but I'm getting there. Slowly, very slowly, but I'm enjoying the process of trying out different styles and mediums. And that's the main thing, and what this my challenge is all about - trying out different things, and having fun, and getting lots of practice.

Portrait #32, N., charcoal and white pastel. I don't usually bother much about likeness when using a reference photo, it's more about getting the proportions right, and making it look like a human face. But here I wanted to get the likeness, and I'm happy to say that I did. I think it helps when you draw someone you know, instead of using images from magazines or the internet, as I usually do. Knowing someone's character, the twinkle in his eyes, the smile etc. all these things somehow help to catch the person on paper.

Portrait #33, done in pastels. For this I used a magazine reference again. No likeness to the person, but I like how she turned out. Her name's Miranda King, a headstrong young woman who wants to become an actress, and to conquer the big city's stages with her renderings of literature's heroines. And I think she might well achieve her dream.

100 portraits: #31 - (re-)discovering pastels

I've been trying out pastels for a bit here and there before, but never really quite got into it. But I felt like taking them out again the other day, and spending a bit more time with them, and I'm really beginning to like them a lot. I'm not so fond of all the dust and mess working with them involves, but they seem like a perfect medium to use for a quick, loose colour sketch in the evening, after work, when I'm too tired to get out my paints. And definitely a better alternative than spending all evening in front of the telly.

The chunky bits of pastels also mean that you have to work quite loose. At least if you're not using anything else with them. I gather there are lots of tools and techniques that allows you to work fine details with pastels too, but that's not really what I want at the moment. It's the looseness that appeals to me, having to let go of some of the control, and just adding layer over layer until I'm happy with the result. I definitely want to use them more often, along with charcoals.

So here's portrait #31, done in pastels, a quick evening sketch done in about 20 minutes. This is Katherine Blackmore, a young, intelligent, headstrong woman, living at the beginning of the 20th century, and one of the few women studying at Cambridge university. She's getting top marks in all of her exams, but because she's a woman, she won't receive a proper degree like her male colleagues. But her education will still allow her to pursue an intellectual career, and as a writer and editor, she'll fiercely fight for the rights and independence of women.

Capturing the different stages of a painting

It starts with a sketch, and at the beginning, one does not always know how a painting, a journal page, will turn out at the end. The process, the evolution is part of the fun. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do. A portrait in grey tones, with only a little touch of colour.

Somehow, it still always surprises me how a painting evolves and changes with every stage. And I like to capture the different stages on camera. It's good to look back and see what certain changes will do to the picture, where one went wrong, where one maybe should have left it. It may also give inspiration for another picture. I quite like the sketchy stage, where I first added some colours (left row, middle) and I'd like to do another one like it. But probably the most useful lesson of seeing the different stages is that it's always worth going on working on it, even if there are moments, when you're so frustrated that you just want to throw it out of the window. Just keep going. Until you're happy with it. It's worth it. (Most of the time, anyway).

Portraits #9 and #10, and playing the "name game" again

At last a couple of portraits again. They're #9 and #10, which means that I've done one tenth of my 100 portraits projects so far. Still a loooong way to go, but having completed 10 still feels good.

The first one is a quick pastel drawing.

"Olivia Night"

The second one another "sofa drawing" in my sketchbook. He somehow ended up looking a bit like the photo of a wanted person. Maybe it's the angle.

"Peter Ellis"

Anyway. I've remembered an old game I used to play when I was young, the "name game". When watching the telly, or a film, I used to make up a name for myself from all the names from the screen credits at the end . I'd choose the first first or last name I liked, and then added a first or last name accordingly, and then kept exchanging them with other ones I liked better, until at the end I'd have my "perfect" name. I've started playing my name game again in order to give my portraits names and a bit of a personality.

So here we are, meet Olivia Night and Peter Ellis. Olivia Night is in her early 40s and newly divorced. It's been a hard time for her, and she's let herself go a little bit. But slowly she's started pulling herself up again and thinking about what to do with the rest of her life. Peter Ellis is a bit of a romantic, and still lookig for "the one",  but he has recently noticed that his hair's thinning and that he's getting bald on top. And he's not happy about it. It makes him look older than he is, and much less attractive to the girls, he fears.

#3 is finished

I finished portrait #3 yesterday last night. I'm quite pleased with how she turned out. Of course, there are still 100 things that could be improved, corrected, made better. Especially on the cheek, which looks a bit flat. I also planned to add a background at first, but I'm going to leave her like this, at least for the moment :)

And now, on to #4 :)

Some more thoughts on the 100 portraits project

On Wednesday, I talked about my 100 portraits project I was planning to do this year, in order to improve my drawing skills. The idea was to use my sketchbook to draw in, and the "100" wasn't so much a definite number, but more meant as "a lot", or "as many as possible". But I have now decided to really try and do 100 portraits this year, and not just into my sketchbook, but instead 100 individual portraits. Right now, I'm working on 40x40cm sketching paper, and this suits me very well. I want to use different paint mediums as well, but for the moment, I think I'll stick to the pastels for a little while. I really don't know why I haven't used these pastels more often before. I've used them only for sketching on to a canvas, really, but never on their own as such. But just love them!!!. And I think they work so well for portraits. :).

The good thing with my 100 portraits project is that it not only won't give me a lot of practice, it also means that I will have a perfect stock of reference images for all kinds of poses, postures, moods, and characters, etc. which I will be able to use for my paintings. And I just really enjoy spending some evenings doing them, and that, really, is already reason enough to continue.

This is portrait #3 I'm working on at the moment. Still lot of work to do on her, but I quite like her, and I just hope I won't spoil her.

I think I'm really going to enjoy this portrait thing!

Working on an other portrait tonight, and I'm am really beginning to enjoy taking my time to complete a drawing, working on the shading, blending and highlights. I was a bit sceptical about the attempting portraits, but I think I'm going to like it a lot. I'm usually too tired to take out my paints and stuff by the time I finally get home in the evening. But a bit of pencil or charcoal drawing, that is manageable. And so relaxing and satisfying.

This is a charcoal and pastel work in progress. I can't wait to continue working on it tomorrow!