I haven’t posted in this blog for a while, but I’ve been drawing or painting every day. During the pandemic, my most common subjects have been family members. This quick watercolor sketch is one example. It depicts my lovely wife, exhausted from a long day of work, dozing off at the kitchen table while still wearing her parka.
Geoff Watson, “Dozing in a Parka,” watercolor on paper, about 4” x 6,” March 2021.
I’ve been painting every day, but I’ve been a bit remiss about updating this blog. I’ll try to catch up over the next week or so. I did this sketch in life class. I was going for a Rembrandt feel, which is great except (1) I didn’t use a dark background, and (2) I’m no Rembrandt, lol. Still, I love it when I get to paint with a lot of red!
Geoff Watson, “Study of a dude in a big hat,” oil on linen panel, 9” x 12.”
I did this quick study in about 90 minutes in life class yesterday. The instructor asked us to experiment with a loose start, massing in shapes without any explicit drawing. I was surprised how well this method worked; I got a pretty good likeness pretty fast. It’s not as finished as I would like, but it was a good foundation.
Geoff Watson, ‘Quick study of Chris,” oil on linen panel, 11” x 14,” 2020.
My New Year’s resolution was to spend more time on each painting — to make some really finished pieces. This is one of the few New Year’s resolutions I’ve ever kept, at least so far. I’ve spent several days on this “brunaille” — an underpainting made in just two colors, brown and white.
I imagine it will take even longer to glaze it (i.e., paint on top of it) with color. I’m not sure, because I normally don’t do underpaintings; this is an experiment. I think it’s a good start!
Geoff Watson, “Brunaille for a portrait,” oil on linen panel, 16” x 20,” 2020.
The holiday rush is finally over, and it’s time to catch up on this blog. I visited my family in New York, and I did a lot of sketching on the trip. I’ll post a few over the next week or so. This one is of a fellow passenger on the train. I used pen, which meant no erasing! This sketch took about half an hour.
Geoff Watson, “On the train,” ink on paper, about 5” x 7,” 2020.
I just had three paintings accepted into a juried show at the Maryland House of Delegates! The show will run during the entire legislative session, from January 9 to April 13. The show is at the Lowe House Gallery in the Lowe House of Delegates Building (6 Bladen Street, Annapolis, MD 21401). My three paintings will be for sale. Plus there will be a reception on February 3 from 6-8 pm.
The show is sponsored by the Maryland Federation of Art, of which I am a member. I guess it’s a chance for state legislators and the public to see art made by Marylanders. It was a competitive process; only 39 artists got in, out of 250 or so who applied, and mine are 3 of 69 paintings in the show.
You can see the preview gallery for the show here: http://mdfedart.com/mfaentry/artistgallery.php?event=176 . The gallery is arranged alphabetically, so I’m at almost the very end. Here are my three pieces that will be on sale:
Geoff Watson, “Cherry blossoms,” oil on panel, 16” x 20,” 2018. $750 at upcoming Lowe House Gallery Exhibition.
Geoff Watson, “Golf Shoes,” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019. $250 at upcoming Lowe House Gallery Exhibition.
Geoff Watson, “Pete,” oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019. $250 at upcoming Lowe House Gallery Exhibition.
I had my final life class of the semester today, so I tried to make the most of it. This little profile study took about 3-4 hours.
Geoff Watson, “Profile study,” oil on linen panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.
I did this study of Moe in life class today. It took about two hours. I like it!
Geoff Watson, “Moe (portrait study),” oil on linen panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.
This was the second session of a two-session pose. I didn’t make as much progress as I’d hoped; there were a lot of distractions in the classroom today. But it’s still a decent likeness.
Geoff Watson, “Sheba,” oil on linen panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.
I started this painting in life class today; it was the first session of a two-session pose. Pretty good likeness already, but I need to refine everything, and I’ve hardly done any work on her torso. Still, a good start.
Geoff Watson, “Sheba (Day 1),” unfinished, oil on linen panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.
When I’m in New York, I like to attend at least one life-drawing session at the Art Students League on West 57th Street. I chose a long pose of Sasha, an excellent model. I started with an indifferent gesture sketch of her full figure, then did this 35-minute portrait sketch.
Geoff Watson, “Sasha,” graphite on paper, 6” x 8,” 2019..
Before life class, I took my little portable paintbox and stood on the corner of 57th and 7th Avenue, looking downtown, toward Times Square. I had trouble concentrating: there was no place to sit, it was hot, and it was crowded. But at least I got a few ideas down on the canvas. I was interested in contrasting the dark mass of green (the backstop for the 57th Street subway stop) with the very bright buildings on the left. And it’s always fun to sketch figures in the city.
Geoff Watson, “Sketch of 7th Avenue at 57th Street,” study, July daily painting #6, oil on canvas panel, 6” x 8,” 2019.
Today’s model, Amy, was wearing a slightly surprised expression, and I seized on it as the focus of my portrait study of her. This was a single-session pose; it took less than two hours.
Geoff Watson, “Amy,” June daily painting #23, oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.
I have a plaster cast of Voltaire, the influential Enlightenment author, and while I’ve drawn the bust several times, I’ve never painted it before. It’s plain white, but it was more fun to sneak some colors into it. I didn’t quite finish, and the photo doesn’t do it justice, but I hope you get the idea.
When Voltaire was alive, he was often depicted with a smile, which seems appropriate for the author of “Candide.” My plaster cast does the same, and I’ve tried to follow suit.
Geoff Watson, “Voltaire,” June daily painting #21, oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.
At today’s life class, our model was a nice woman named Dakota. I painted her portrait in about two hours. She held her pose perfectly, which helped me get a reasonable likeness. She was concentrating hard to stay still, and I tried to capture her rather serious expression. Alas, I forgot to indicate her shoulders, heh, and by the time I realized it, the model had left. Oh well.
Geoff Watson, “Dakota,” June daily painting #16, oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.
I had great fun painting this model today. I had about two hours — not a lot of time. He was wearing a gold chain around his neck, but I didn’t have time to put it in. He was also wearing a turban, an earring, and a rather curious expression; I did have time to put those in. :)
Geoff Watson, “Turban and earring,” June daily painting #9, oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.
I’m always eager to paint cars, but cars are fickle models: they tend to drive away. Today I got a great chance: a car stayed parked for hours right across from my house. Time for a portrait of a Honda Accord!
Geoff Watson, “Portrait of a Honda Accord,” May daily painting #29, oil on panel, 8” x 10,” 2019.
Laura is a new model at my life class, and today she sat for the second session of a two-session pose. I didn’t finish polishing and smoothing out the colors in her face, but I like a lot about it. The likeness is pretty good, and the picture has some character.
Geoff Watson, “Laura,” May daily painting #12, oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.
Today I painted a new model, Laura, in life class. This was the first of a two-week pose, but I think it’s off to a decent start. She holds her head nicely, and her features are strong, so she’s fun to paint. Next week I’ll refine her features, balance the lights and shadows better, model her head in a more 3D way, and work on her hair. All in two hours, natch!
Geoff Watson, “Laura (in progress),” May daily painting #5, oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.
Mallina is one of my favorite models: she holds a pose perfectly! This portrait doesn’t do her justice, but I hope it captures some of her spirit.
Geoff Watson, “Portrait study of Mallina,” oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.
This painting was really fun. I had originally planned a light background on the left and darker background on the right, to set up contrast with the light and shadow sides of the model’s face. But I had second thoughts when I noticed the awesome earring the model was wearing, which would’ve disappeared had I painted it against a light background. So I sorta reversed course — darker on the left, lighter on the right. I wimped out a bit; I think a darker background on the left would’ve looked cool. But it worked out pretty well, and I think the earring looks pretty neat.
Geoff Watson, “Woman with a silver earring,” oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.