Ever so slowly, this little painting is beginning to take shape. Tuesday I was able to sneak in a couple of hours to start working on the concrete ledge for which this piece will most likely be named.

I realize this looks a little weird without the surrounding concrete in place. Over the next week or so, any little two-hour-ish spans of time I stumble across will be devoted to solving that problem. Larger blocks of time, the six or so hours I had today for example, will be spent on the more delicate task of painting the figure. I am test driving a new variation of my flesh-painting technique on this piece somewhat inspired by Jacob Collins’ description of his method. I began by laying down a very thin wash of Burnt Umber and Ivory Black in Linseed Oil over the area to be painted. I then painted in the mid-tones and shadows in some detail using the same two pigments and a little Cadmium Red. At that point, the arm looked something like this:

I mixed three light flesh tones, two for the main-light side and one for the reflected-light side. Using those three colors and pure Titanium White, I blended in the lit mid-tones and the highlights. A little clean up with Titanium White and Ivory Black finished the job. This isn’t the best photograph of the finished arm (it was taken at sunset in somewhat dubious light conditions), but I think you can still see how effective this technique is. I love it.

Incidentally, I painted the face of this figure using the same method. You can definitely expect me use the same on figures in the future.

An interesting and illustrative portrait demonstration by William Whitaker on ConceptArt.org (thanks, Natalie M.)

  Forgot to mention that ‘The Letter’ is currently being discussed at QCFA’s Artist Studio.  Most of the steps will have been discussed here, but there may be more dialogue at Quent’s site (they get a lot more traffic, but not a lot of commenting that we know of … hmmmm).  If you’d like to know more about its creation please click here.

I made a first pass over the hair in the new painting this morning.

I find it amazing how much the hair, even in this chopped-in state, completely changes the appearance of the face (which, incidentally, I haven’t touched since the last photo).

At long last, I had some time to work on the wee new painting this afternoon.  I am very pleased to say that the commission I have been working toward is actually going to happen.  The composition is all worked out, and I spent yesterday and this morning assembling and preparing the 55 X 34 inch canvas.  It is still a bit to early to post any images, but it won’t be long now.  So it is that I had most of the day left to work, no comp sketches to do or redo, no canvas left to be stretched, and the wee painting just begging for a little attention.

With a little luck and some serious scheduling, I hope to finish this piece during the model searching, scrap shooting, perspective working, scale drawing, canvas sketching phase of this commission.

I am starting a quick little figure painting while negotiations on the potential commission continue. Here is the canvas, 18X30, sketched and ready for paint.

Surprise! It’s a girl sitting on a concrete ledge. This is intended to be a figure study more than anything else, so I haven’t really worked out the background details yet. These things are really fun to paint, and usually turn out to be beautiful little paintings. The girl is the same model I used for the letter. Same flowers as well. The skirt will be an interesting project. It is a delicate, intricately textured fabric that is the slightest bit translucent. The challenge will be to portray that without spending a week painstakingly painting every little detail.

In theory, this piece should be finished relatively soon, although if things evolve quickly with the commission, it may go on the back burner for a while.

An excellent batch of sketches came in for the GS this month. I will start with three new pieces by Erik Widqvist, so far the most prolific participant. Erik has regularly sent five to ten new sketches every month since I began the feature.

First, a nice figure study. Erik hasn’t mentioned how long he works on these sketches, but I believe they are being done as part of his classwork. For those of you who are interested in getting practice drawing from live models, most universities will have what they refer to as ‘Brown Bag’ sketching sessions which are open to anyone who will pitch in to pay the model and who is serious about improving their drawing. You don’t have to be a student, and it is a great opportunity to meet other aspiring artists. Of course, you can always try to bribe your friends to sit around for you as an alternative.

This next sketch is of Erik’s girlfriend’s photography professor.

And finally, a landscape.

Next up: another of the group of sketches sent to me from Johnathan in New York. Once again, I would love to see some new work for next month’s GS, Johnathan.

In a continuing tiger theme, This next drawing was done by Alex Jiang, a high-school student from China. This kid is talented and prolific. I had at least a dozen images to choose from, all great work. I will be saving a few for the next couple installments, but with any luck, I may get same new work as well.

Here is a quick landscape study in pencil,

And a study done in a coffee shop in ink:

This last image isn’t exactly a sketch. Alex did this mural (3 meters by 2 meters in size), I am told, in a matter of hours.

And now, in an attempt to inspire more participation in the ‘Guest Sketchbook’, I will offer my bribe. At the end of the year, after December’s edition of the GS, I will be giving out three prints of my work to sketchbook participants.

The first print will be awarded based both on chance and on participation in the following manner. Beginning with next month’s GS, any participant who submits at least one image of NEW work (work done since the previous month’s GS) will have their name entered in a drawing once for each month’s entry. At the end of the year, I will randomly select a name to receive the print. So, if you send in a sketch two out of the remaining seven months, your name will be in the pool twice. If you participate all seven moths, your name will be entered seven times. Etc.

The second print will go to the individual who I think has made tho most progress in their sketching over the next seven months. There will be several stipulations here. Sketches submitted for this print must have been done the month preceding their submission, they must be done in 30 minutes or less, and they must be specifically submitted for this purpose. To be eligible for this print, at least four submissions must be made before December. I may occasionally suggest a theme for these sketches.

The final print will be given out to the sketch judged ‘Best in Sketchbook’ of all sent in over the next seven months. The decision will be made by me and a few other jurors to be announced later in the year.

I will award only one print per participant, and anyone who wants to send in drawings or sketches is more than welcome. If you want to send in images of paintings, I will post them, but they will not be counted toward any of the print awards. I would love to encourage participation by other professional artists, but will not include their work in the ‘Best in Sketchbook’ section.

That about wraps it up. If you have any questions, please let me know. Now go draw.