Three Oranges, One Video, One Self-Portrait Sketch, and Some Words

 

 "Three Oranges no. 3 (Pattern)"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$200

Click to buy

Another orange painting from Playa - and a time-lapse video of my underpainting. You can see how I tweak the position of everything just a bit at the very beginning - the best time to make changes like that, for sure! 

(If you're an email subscriber, you may need to click on this link to watch.)

Here's another of my daily sketchbook self-portraits - this one done in oils on a ground of gray gesso. When I'm using oil paint in my sketchbook, I actually prefer to paint right on the paper. Gesso, being water-based, makes the paper buckle. Paint thinners like Gamsol don't have the same effect. And, because I get a lot of questions about whether I use a special kind of sketchbook to paint in - the answer is no - it's just your garden variety sketchbook. Pentalic - this one, I think.

The Artist Returns!

 "The Owl Feather"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$400

 Click to buy

Wow! Well - I am home from an amazing sojourn at the Playa Fellowship Residency Program, in Southeastern Oregon - and how to even begin describing the experience? The shortest possible way would be to say I made as much work in four weeks there as I would have in four months at home. But luckily, we don't have to settle for the shortest possible way - I'm planning to spend the next few weeks posting my new paintings, and writing about my time there.

So, I'll begin at the beginning - packing! Playa is in a pretty remote location - 60 miles from the nearest grocery store - so in addition to my art supplies and warmest winter-weather sweaters, I had to pack a lot of food. My car was full!

 

 Playa isn't all that far from my home in Eugene, Oregon - a 3.5 hour drive in good weather. I had a much shorter journey than many of the other residents. Here's a photo from near Willamette Pass, crossing over the Cascades

I watched the landscape slowly change, from deep snow and tall pine trees to more open vistas of scrublands and chilly blue sky.

I arrived at my destination at last - after driving right past it. This place seriously flies under the radar. Aside from being in the middle of breathtaking nowhere, it doesn't announce itself. There's a small sign, a rustic gate made of tree branches, and group of unassuming, red-roofed cottages on the edge of a huge, shallow, half-iced-over lake. The atmosphere is down-to-earth and unpretentious - the focus is on quiet, and work- time, space, introspection. And, after unpacking my many provisions with a wheel barrow between car and studio, I attempted to settle in. 

I am a relatively quiet person, used to working alone, used to structuring my own days - but when you can do absolutely anything you want to do - where do you start? I actually showed up without a clearly defined plan of what to paint - on purpose - hoping to use natural light on my setups, paint whatever I found around the place - just see what happened. 

And, in the absence of anything happening, fall back on self-portraits. From life - not photos, as I usually do.

 I made a plan to do a self-portrait sketch every day - and I did it. Here's number one, the night I arrived. I still have that glimmer of civilization in my eyes....

 And soon, still life subjects started showing up. I found this beautiful owl feather practically on my front lawn, just out for a walk in the wind and mud.

 

In this studio shot, I'm just about to begin the painting; you can see my still life on the table, in afternoon light from that west-facing window:

 

 And so it began....

Self-Portrait, With Video

 "Self-Portrait (Hopeful)"

approx. 8 x 11, oil on Arches oil paper

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This self-portrait began as a demo for an online student. At the end of our session, it looked like the first image on the left - so that was about an hour-and-a-half. I worked on it for several more hours, and you can see the progression:

I really enjoy painting for my online students - it's like having excellent company in the studio, with the added bonus of having video documentation of my painting process! I edited this one down to just the block-in - it's about a 15 minute video:

Big Things!

 "Self-Portrait, Pointing Down"

24 x 36 inches, oil on canvas

$1800
Available here

This one was kind of a struggle getting started, several days of scraping and redoing the face. But, that happens to everyone - even John Singer Sargent!

Here's the progression. If you think I look serious in the finished piece, check out that grumpy underpainting! It looks like I just ate something unpleasant.

 I'll replace the photo of the finished piece with a better one soon; I was in a hurry to get the painting off to this show, OBJECT/FORM, which opens Friday! (I finished it the day before I had to deliver my work - the perks of a local gallery.) 

This is kind of a big deal - I have thirty paintings on view. If you're in the Eugene area, please join me for the opening reception, Friday April 8th, from 6-8 pm.

Self-Portrait Time Machine, and Subconscious Artistic Influences

 "Self-Portrait at 36"

24 x 18 inches, oil on canvas

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Suddenly, it's been two years since my last large self-portrait.

Although I'd really like to avoid as many cliches as possible here, I'll allow myself one: it feels like only yesterday....

 

In looking at these side-by-side, I notice a strangely similar thing happening around the neckline of both shirts. They aren't the same shirt (though I do still wear the sweater from the first portrait), but my undershirt is peeking out in both. 

After wondering about it for a while, I noticed this print on my wall....which I've been looking at, on one wall and another, since about the age of twelve.

Thank you, Modigliani, for invading my subconscious.

And here are my works-in-progress. First the head gets bigger, then the body grows to match it!

I Expose My Reference

 

 "Self Portrait Sketch no. 2"

10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

Available

I've explained it before - I always paint self portraits from photo reference. I took a slew of selfies the other day, and have been trying out a few different heads - hoping to complete a large self portrait (head and hands) before the end of the year.

It's a tall order. Good thing I'm a short person!

Here's the photo for this one:

Any other painters want to give it a shot?

Sketching Selfies

 

 "Self Portrait Sketch no. 1"

10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

Available

I just finished up a Christmas portrait commission, which, because it hasn't been gifted yet, is unsharable. What to do with all that leftover paint? You got it: Selfies! This kind takes a little bit longer than this kind, but it's a lot more fun.

Here's my sketch-to-finish. The pencil drawing was a quick ten-minute warmup in my studio journal.

Did someone say "Studio Journal?!" Sounds suspiciously like new year's resolution material.....

'Tis the season, after all.

Another Self Portrait and Another Road Trip!

 "Self Portrait, February 2014"

14 x 11 inches, oil on canvas

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Last week, once Snow-maggeddon finally melted (and the power came back on and my car was towed out of a ditch), Carol and I hit the rainy road to Portland for a brunch date with a group of awesome artist-bloggers. There were a lot of familiar faces in attendance, and one new to me, but a blogger I've been following for years, Don Gray. What a pleasure to meet someone in person and feel like you already know them so well!

Because you can never have too much of a good thing: artist-friends, delicious brunch food, cute dogs, painterly commiseration, new-work-sharing...

Below, clockwise from top: Annie Salness, Carol Marine, Ruth Armitage, and Randall David Tipton; Lulu the cutest damn dog in Oregon; Sarah Peroutka; Don Gray and Randall; Jo Reimer, Don, and his wife Brenda. Present, but not pictured: Gretha Lindwood. Huge thanks to Ruth for hosting us at her stunning home.

As far as this self portrait is concerned, (and I should say something about it, huh?), I painted it while cooped up in the snow (but before the power went out).  I used a Zorn palette, and really wasn't planning on even finishing it, but ended up liking it. The nose is a bit short, the chin maybe a bit too big, but you'll have that. Until you come to Eugene and meet me, you can't really argue!

A Lady Never Reveals Her Age...

"Self Portrait at 34"

18 x 14 inches, oil on canvas

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Here I am. I was motivated to paint this by the sale of my last self-portrait, which was painted ten months ago, and much has changed since then. One thing that hasn't changed is the fact - and I freely admit it - that I painted both from photographs.

I don't paint anything from photos....except commissions from afar, out of necessity - and self-portraits, also out of a strange necessity. You see, every time I've painted myself from mirrors in the past, I've been intensely frustrated by the sole response: "It doesn't look like you!" Well, no kidding! I'm a highly asymmetrical person, and what I see when I look in the mirror is (thankfully) not what you see when you look at me. As true to the reflection as I get, as good as my drawing skills become - if I'm looking in a mirror, my self-portrait will not ring true for you. I kind of like the fact that my self-concept is based on a reflected image that only I see, and it isn't the one I paint, it's only for me.

The worst criticism I've gotten regarding this painting - and it's been seen in my studio by several close friends now - is that I look sad.

A Self Portrait...wonders will never cease.

8 x 10"

oil on canvas

 Sold

Recently, I put out a call for skin-tone tips, and I got some really good responses. My favorite came from Bill Sharp - the infographic you see below. Sean Cheetham is one of my gods heroes - I'm totally blow away by his muted, yet perfectly modulated flesh tones.  So, I was really excited to try his palette. The idea is that you mix two main "mud" piles - a light side and a dark side, and then modify each one three or four ways. I couldn't believe how few piles of paint I was using to create such a range of expression. My normal portrait palette is, well, not this simple.

  

 What it looks like on my palette:

I needed a test subject, so I snapped a quick self-portrait with my phone, propped it up next to my canvas, and dove in. What do you think?

Do you like painting self-portraits? Do you always do them from a mirror, or do you prefer photo reference?
I really don't like painting self-portraits. Going back and forth between the mirror and my painting is very difficult for me, and no one ever EVER thinks I capture a likeness. I enjoyed the cell-phone method, though. I think I'll be doing these more often!