Study/Lorenzo Il Magnifico

8 inches square, oil on panel


I have been looking at Don Baccardy's work, a California portrait painter, prolific too, so there is lots to look at. He comes from drawing, definitely - line, line, line with all its energy and force and also he is casual, another plus. He did the official portrait of Jerry Brown, Ca governor) and it is hilariously straightforward and unassuming, with Brown looking bewildered. You can imagine this hanging with all the other heavy official paintings of bureaucrats in suits. Brown is also in a suit, but a rumpled one. I read that they finally hung the painting  alone in the basement stairwell. And Baccardy made some comment like, if you knew what the other portraits looked like you would understand why I am not upset. All delightful, and I admire his work.  But in amongst his paintings are a few of them that deal more with value than line, but both really, and these are the ones I think are the greatest. All this is interesting because I struggle so with values, I didn't know that the sort of painting I like best is based on values, which when they are correct convey a believable sense of form in space. And so it feels like you are telling the truth - but not with words.

Ruby with Broken Leg, 2

12 inches, square oil on board

Hurting and on drugs! Awful. Cast comes off Wednesday.

I'm using different brushes, old ones, even though I have new bushes with perfect edges...trying to save them for the last bit of the painting when I need precision, and possibly taking care of them better so they laaaaassst. So - working with the old brushes makes me draw more and simplify shapes, I'm surprised how helpful this is. Also out of paint and having to substitute, for instance Naples yellow for yellow ochre -- a world of difference, but I am getting better acquainted with what can happen. It's so wonderful to be painting, OY!

Maren with Bow, 8 in square, oil on panel

This was done from a Christmas photograph, and so -- many challenges, oy! In particular, the edges, some merged and some stingingly clear against the dark. I looked at lots of portraits for help, or permission, or whatever jolt forward I could get hold of.  Some of the most helpful were: Jennifer Balkan, Suzanne du Toit, Frank Duveneck, and the most awe inspiring that brings me to my knees, Rembrandt's Portrait of a Girl in a Gold Braided Coat. That painting is so amazing it makes me afraid to paint anything.  Best to ration your exposure, like look at it at night, and then there will be some hours before you are at work again.

Portrait of A. After a Bad Haircut, Mugshot 105 (12 inches square)

This one was touch and go. A.had just got a bad haircut and was very upset, crying, and her nose and eyes were red and swollen. I was immediately in a hurry to get it down ( and yet not seem heartless)  but keep her in her engorged state as long as possible.

Mugshot 102: The Italian (12 x 12 " oil on panel)

Well, I have been doing a lot of painting but no posting because I have been taking a class with Joseph Todorovitch and learning new stuff, therefore I've been in that in-between place where nothing is any good, nothing really resolved because, well, the whole experience rocked my world.
I recently decided I would finish everything up, starting from the left off place of not knowing what to do, and just taking the whole thing gently but firmly to its logical end. New stuff seeps in somehow,  but it's the old bicycle thing, all the parts working smoothly without wrenching effort, and then you're simply riding, fantastic
Do more painting is the thing to do, and make more of an effort to paint for pleasure. So in these paintings next up,  it's what I did for fun.

Mugshot 100, Tessa in the Bath

This was a quick sketch at the end of the day.  I used big brushes and lots of paint and medium and worked like a house afire and did not let myself put the  details or highlights in until the very end, also tried to get the big spaces covered right away, including the background. Now I know to get my background color in early, otherwise I have color troubles, things don't relate. In this one I wanted the stark white of the bathroom behind her so that overall the painting is quiet, bathroomish. She was crying hard because her sister was taking up too much room in the tub, so her eyes are red and she is aggrieved. It was really fun to paint...I'm getting faster, finally!

Wait a minute.....

 I just realized I have hit the 100 mark so I went back to find my first mugshot, and here he is, done July 2011. It is a complete mystery to me how I assimilated whatever was necessary for me to be able to paint the one above.... It isn't that I didn't try hard for this one below - in fact at every step along the way I concentrated and gnashed my teeth and thrashed about, tried to ask the right questions so I could get the answers I needed, took classes, looked at painting, stretched as much as I could, painted as much as possible,etc, and did not feel much better about the results. Apparently if you stick at it though, the information enters you. I can think of no other explanation. I regret that I feel it necessary to say that I know I am not  now arrived at any high place, but even I can see the difference between these two, and I'm encouraged!

Mug Shot: Italian Boy

This is 8 x 10 or so, oil on board.  His skin was so colorful, pearlescent.  And there was such sweetness in his face. It is difficult for me to recall an American adolescent, or anyone else for that matter, with such an absence of cynicism.  You never really know about these things, even so - beautiful to observe it.

Italian Babies (Gaya)

With Maria Lassnig in my heart, I am soldiering on, looking for a way to use color differently and also psychological acumen rather than precision. Although, of course, it would be very fine to also have precision.

Italian Paintings/ Italian Baby

This is sort of the same stricken expression as the dog in the previous painting. I once had a student (You know who you are!) who made a fabulous baby painting, and the baby was really mad. I coveted it! She wouldn't let me have it though. The parents got it, and they didn't appreciate it adequately, so sad.

I did quick drawings in oil for this several times and made an effort to dismiss my usual accumulating tension. I tried to draw for the pleasure of it, and wiped each one. Then I began painting with the same goal, to enjoy it passage by passage and not worry (about the one million things going wonky or wrong or muddy, I should have gone to secretarial school, etc.) I also tried to think about the structure of the head only and not require a likeness. I  began with the nose first, the relationship of the nose to the eye sockets. I'm hoping this will help me be in charge of the size of my images, in this case the head in relations to my canvas. My default mode is to make it life sized, so the longer I work the bigger the entire thing becomes. This time I was able to keep it all within my boundaries. I worked this too long but I did get the whole head in and 8x6 canvas without too much suffering. I read somewhere that the first relationship to establish is the nose to the eyes, then everything else can fall into its relative place, and it works!

Mugshot 69, Possible Family Member

He looks so mournful because he has - as everyone eventually develops in Texas - allergies.
This makes for lots of pink and red around the eyes, fun to paint. I made a good effort to get the skin color full of lots of pigment, and it was easy because I could see it. I photographed him backlit and in  shadow, so everything was pretty dark and close valued.  Also, still big bristle brushes for the most part.

Mug Shots 66 and 67 RT

These two  were done about a week apart, the top one done today.  I think his face is really as long as it is in the lower one, but I couldn't make my brain do it on a shorter panel.  I did use much much more pigment in the top one though -- I think it doesn't show so much in these photographs. I made lots of batches of paint with the palette knife,  so first I studied the photo carefully to see what areas could be generalized for color and then made it.  I think this keeps the paint cleaner and more pure.  Also, my brush work was better in the top one, I'm getting better at making the shape of the color fit the plane of the face.  Top one is better I think.