Resolutions

 How does the idea of New Year’s resolutions resonate with you? It’s already almost the end of January, so some have probably been broken already. Ok- I’ll just speak for myself! Haven’t given up sugar! Haven’t been to the gym 3 times a week! Not even meditating daily! But what I have done is started a consistent study of portraiture. I want to paint the family- we’re a small one so that’s good- in oil on 8x8 cradled panel. I’ll be sharing my portrait drawings too- I’m going on a deep dive into portraiture!

Here’s the first one- my granddaughter Teagan. She’ll be turning sixteen in a few weeks! And did you notice too, how the time is flying by!

Painted over an old panel, I did a grid first then did my best at getting the features where they belong and the proportions correct.

 I ended up pleased, but after a lot of tweaking, scraping and reassessing!

A Colorful New Year

Here we are in a New Year- already it’s the 13th! I wanted to make a post, say hello and just share one of my greatest loves- COLOR!

The top image is a little canvas with the primaries on the top row- left to right- Ultramarine White, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Red Light and Ultramarine Blue. All the other colors are mixed from these four-which I didn’t think would be possible. Don’t you need masses of tubes to get all the colors? Well, no you don’t. When I studied at The Lyme Academy of Fine Art- we were not allowed any more than these 4 in Painting 101. I don’t restrict myself in that way any longer but still value the harmony that a limited palette will bring to any painting.

This next image is a color chart dating back to my days at the Lyme Academy- it’s a value scale. I look at it today and know I could do a much better job, but it’s a great reminder of how far I’ve come since I started painting in 2000. Remember- it’s progress- NOT perfection- and that goes for all the facets of my life.