Brian’s mom was excited because he discovered his niece. She wanted me to paint the wonder he felt in his eyes when this happened.
There are some techniques I’ve used that were fun for me. I actually painted Brian in a green undercoat, then put skin-tones over it. The carpet was red so I painted it that color, but put strokes of blue over it to give a shadow effect. Notice the colors in the white clothing, also the blue in Brian’s hair.
This painting was done in an expressionistic manner to match Brian’s unique and wonderful personality.
Since I’m starting my new portrait class this week, I thought I’d post a drawing of a person. There are some tricks – the eyes are in the middle of the head. Go ahead, measure and see. I like to put them in, then draw triangles underneath which create the smile lines. Actually the smile lines are from the cheekbones. Under the bottom lip there is an area before the chin line. I like to call it the bow tie. The area above the eyebrow protrudes some because the bone above the eye socket sticks out.
This painting is the one I was doing on my April 19 post called “En Plein Air.” It is of the bridge over Pleasant Run, a stream running through Indianapolis. Note the way that certain colors portray light and shadow. The sunlit part of the stream and rocks have a yellowish glow, while the shadowy part in the foreground has a blue or violet shade. Atmospheric perspective gives depth. The tree on the left appears to be in front of the bridge. The woods in the distance underneath are painted with less detail and color intensity. I wanted the viewer to be able to imagine walking down the stream.
Recent Comments