Shoshana sat for my life group again today, but I couldn’t get the same seat, so I started a new picture. I wish I’d had fifteen more minutes to model the eyes! But I’m still happy with it.
Geoff Watson, "Shoshana looking left," oil on panel, 12" x 16," 2018.
Yet another iPad sketch, with an Apple pencil. I’m starting to love this thing.
Geoff Watson, “Studying,” iPad sketch, 2018.
I’ve been spending more time playing with Procreate, a sketch/paint app for the iPad. I’m getting more comfortable with it. Maybe I’ll add some color next.
Geoff Watson, “Profile from imagination,” iPad sketch, 2018.
Geoff Watson, “iPad doodles,” iPad, 2018.
Not every painting is a success, but I try to learn from mistakes. In today’s life session, my back was hurting, but I tried to stand so I could view the model from the same vantage point I had last week. Not smart! I had trouble concentrating, and the figure did not improve. After a while I gave up, sat down, and just started messing around with the background instead. Not a huge success, but still interesting.
Geoff Watson, “Not my best,”oil study on panel, 12” x 16,” 2018.
Yesterday I had a different kind of failure. I drew a pretty good likeness of the model, and my first wash of watercolor enhanced it. I should have stopped there! Instead I overworked it. Then I compounded the error by adding eye detail after the model was gone, and of course I got them wrong, lol. You can get away with that in oil, as it’s easy to wipe out mistakes. Not so with watercolors! (A comedy of errors: my computer isn’t letting me upload it. Maybe for the best!)
In today’s life class, our instructor asked us to mass in the form without drawing contour lines. She suggested amoeba-like soft edges, allowing us to push and pull things to refine the drawing. I like this approach. It took some of the pressure off the initial lay-in, and it promoted soft edges. We had only two hours, so it’s still rough, but I still feel I made a statement.
I only wish I’d painted this on a panel! All I had handy was a canvas pad. Maybe some future art historian will cut it out, put it on stretcher bars, frame it, and donate it to the Met. :-)
Geoff Watson, “Mallina,” oil on canvas pad, 12” x 16,” 2018.
I had less than two hours to paint Wayne, but I was pleased with the results. I’ve given him a somewhat unhappy look, but it’s pretty faithful to how he appeared: he was holding a difficult pose involving ropes and cuffs!
Geoff Watson, “Wayne in profile,” oil on canvas panel, 9” x 12,” 2018.
Today we did more quick figure studies in life class, and again I did several charcoal drawings that I may post later. For now, here’s a look at a 45-minute oil sketch. I was mostly interested in the backlighting around her head and upper body.
Geoff Watson, “Emily, backlit”, oil study on panel, 11” x 14,” 2018.
Wayne was a last-minute substitute model in today's life-painting session; the scheduled model failed to show. Wayne turned out to be great! He showed up with ropes and posed with them. We started with a couple 10-monute poses. Here's one.
Geoff Watson, "Hauling," carbon pencil on paper, 9" x 12," 2017.
Then it was the main event -- a long pose of about 90 minutes. This is not a great photo, but it does show my main focus -- the intense light on Wayne's left shoulder.
Geoff Watson, "Wayne," oil on panel, 11" x 14," 2017.
I started this portrait last weekend, but I forgot to post it until now; it's been a busy week. The drawing is good as far as it goes, but I hope to develop it further in the remaining two sessions.
Geoff Watson, "Emily," work in progress, oil on panel, 11" x 14," 2017.
This is a photo of the early stage of a portrait that I started using only two colors, Burnt Sienna and white. Here I'd just started adding hints of color, but I was already running out of time, so the image looks rather ghostly. It's still interesting, and the likeness isn't bad. It helped that the model, Lily, held her pose so well. I went on to add some color, but I didn't finish; I like this "brunaille" version better. I'm hoping I'll get another chance to paint Lily so that I can finish the picture.
Geoff Watson, "Lily," oil on panel, 11" x 14," 2017.
I learn a lot about a place when I paint there. I've visited Friendship Heights -- an area on the D.C./Maryland border -- hundreds of times. But today was the first day I'd ever painted there. I didn't know this little one-block-square park was named Hubert Humphrey Park. I didn't know so many seniors lived here. I didn't know about the immaculate community center adjoining the park -- with a library, people playing chess, clean bathroom (a luxury for a plein air painter!), and friendly staff.
And I didn't know about the neat sculpture depicted here, by J. Seward Johnson. Like the nearby bronze policeman, she get lots of double-takes: she's pretty convincing! Me, I thought it was fun to make a picture of someone making a picture. Plus, this model never moves or takes breaks. On top of all that, the weather was perfect! It was a great day to be outdoors painting.
Geoff Watson, "Bronze Girl in Hubert Humphrey Park," oil on panel, 8" x 10," 2017.