in thought

9x12" oil painting on the back of a sketchbook cover. ; )

Today's Two-Colour Portrait was done with Light Magenta and Burnt Umber. I chose a warm and cool colour, thinking the pink was the warm, (since it's in the red category) only to quickly realize the brown is the warmer of the two. #doh I mean, burnt umber is orange right...?! 

I gessoed the board with a white and black gesso mix in order to see my values. 

Next is another picture of the whole piece, (on a black background so you can see it) I love the perforations and I let the orange and yellow, from the original board, show up. (I sanded the gesso off the edges to bring that colour back). I added a little brush mark of my original palette, the two-colours... and white of course, to the bottom right hand corner. ; )

Here's my preliminary sketch in charcoal, also 9x12".

  

And here's my palette. I don't usually mix colours first, but for these two-colour portraits I do, so that I can really get a handle on the three values I'm using.

I take a black and white pic of my palette, before I start painting, to see if the values are right. See how the light values match each other, and the mid values match each other, as well as the grey paper palette I use. 

By the end of it, my three value painting is really five values. I bring in a few mid-lights and mid-darks. I try to keep it to three, since three value paintings are nice and clean, and easy to 'read' from across the room. But sometimes, for portrait structure, a few more values are necessary.

Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate your time. Take care ya'll. : )

fella with hat

click here to purchase - 

8x10" original drawing in charcoal on warm grey Canson paper. 

And now for something completely different! I used to draw on this lovely warm Canson grey paper all the time, using charcoal with light pink ​pastel highlights. It's a very satisfying approach because the paper is cool and the greys are so warm and soft. I love the harmony and I thought, for my Sunday Portrait, I would revisit this style. : )

Meat Free Monday

Drawings to help spread the word and support the Meat Free Mondays Campaign. : ) #veggiemealstoday 

Drawing the Bangarra Dancers!!!

 

 

I had an absolutely awesome time with the Toronto Urban Sketchers on Friday. We were invited to draw the Bangarra Dancers, from Australian, as they warmed up the morning of their performance. Then, some of us returned that evening for the actual performance, called "Spirit", which celebrated their 30 years as a dance company. 

I used charcoal pencil and newsprint and just drew as fast as I could! They did not stop moving. Their idea of an hour warm up was a work out like I've never seen. Truly spectacular dancers! Very inspiring. 

Life Drawing Show!

SOLD

This is just one of three portraits that I have hanging at the Heliconian Club in Toronto this month. Come by and say Hi at 35 Hazelton Ave. I'll be there from 1-2pm.

And here are a few charcoal studies that I did before completing the finished gouache painting. Hope to see you this weekend!

a couple of portraits

Two 11x14" watercolour pieces (with a couple of details) from my last life painting session. : )

charcoal and watercolour

Charcoal Drawing

Adding a second (and final) layer of watercolour

Some charcoal added to the shadow side

Last Tuesday's portrait night at Don Valley Art Club ended off our summer sessions just right. : )

I drew the model in charcoal, painted it with watercolour then brought it together with a layer of charcoal. The final charcoal, on the shadow side, didn't blend like I anticipated it would, I think because it was sitting on top of the watercolour. I like it, but I think it looks a bit 'rough' and I may save this technique for a male model next time. I'm happy that I played around and tried something different, which I guess is what it's all about...

Payne's Gray

Drawing with a charcoal pencil then adding Payne's Gray was a new approach for me yesterday. I was at my weekly life drawing session and thought I would give this combination a try. I love Payne's Gray however artists stay away from it because it doesn't blend well. But it's such a lovely gray! So, I decided, the heck with it, and I purchased Winsor Newton Artist quality Payne's Gray. 

Well... it doesn't blend nicely. It's sticky and doesn't want to cooperate. I'm happy with my results but it was a real struggle. 

Also, after spending money on the artist quality stuff, it turns out I much prefer the Cotman student brand of Payne's Gray. It's a lot less of a "pains gray". 

; )

Sketchbook Portraits

I've been drawing a lot this year, mostly with 6B pencil and some charcoal with chalk. Here are a few 8x10" pages of portraits from my sketchbooks. : ) 

whiz

$30 - 9x12" original watercolour painting on 90lb paper.

Today's life model was full of energy when posing for short poses. I think I captured his spark in this charcoal drawing as he whizzed around from pose to pose. Then I added splashes of turquoise, purple and red.

lost and found

$100 - 8x10"watercolour painting

I've been doing a lot of drawing lately however, I'm a bit worried about tightening up as a result. So, I enjoy this still life for it's loose-goosey quality. : )

Tree Studies

A few long overdue tree studies.