Monday, July 9, 2012

ARA Work-Finished and Unfinished

I finished my first Bargue drawing at ARA:


As I mentioned on Facebook, Agrippa (above) nearly destroyed me as he did the fleets of the combined forces of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium.  But what did I expect from the progenitor of both Caligula and Nero?  One Bargue copy down, 3 to go.  For my second Bargue, I am working on Dante, who will certainly lead me through Hell.  I chose Dante because he has many dark tones.  I am terrible at rendering darks, thus I thought it would be a good learning experience for me.  I finished the initial cartoon.  Now I am working on specifics before I transfer onto good paper.  I am still struggling with line quality.  I get too dark too fast.



During the spring session at ARA, I participated in an 8 week portrait painting workshop with Garrett Vitanza.  I didn't finish the portrait, but if I have some spare time, I may work on her some more.  This portion of the post is more a record for myself than anyting else, though when I first began this blog, I decided to post the good, the bad, and the ugly.


On the first day of the workshop, I decided I would paint instead of draw as I had done in Brian's class.  The reason for this was that the model had beautiful jet black hair, which enhanced her crimson lipstick and complemented her purple sweater.  I realized I wouldn't have enough time to complete the portrait ARA style, but I was so inspired by the model that I decided to attempt to add color anyway.  As far as I can remember, the following is how we worked, if we were going to try to paint with a limited palette.

Weeks One and Two: The Cartoon


I was obsessed with the model's right eye.  All my painstaking attempts at properly placing her right eye failed miserably.  I was assured, however, by both Garrett and Emmy that I would lose the drawing anyway when I placed paint on the canvas, so I proceeded forward.  Garrett pushed us and what I had accomplished in 4 weeks during my last session, I did in 2 this time.  Yet, as I mentioned, I wasn't completely satisfied with the cartoon.

Week Three: Tonal Study

This is a tonal study on an 8 x 10 canvas board using only titanium and ivory.  We mixed 5 values, and went on from there.

Week Four: Dry Brush (with some titanium white)


After toning an 16 x 24 linen canvas with a pile of Van Dyke brown, yellow ochre, and a dab of cadmium red, I transferred the drawing.  In class we dry brushed the tones, and added white at the end for some highlights.  I loved this approach.

Weeks Five-Seven: Dead Color


No details here, just large planes, while carefully considering color temps.

Week Eight: Some First Painting


Since I was one of the few who arrived at this stage (only because I had attended ALL 8 classes and many missed one or two), Garrett used my painting to demonstrate first painting.  He did the eye that looks more complete (and BETTER!) than the rest.  I didn't paint much this week, but I learned from watching Garrett.  

8 weeks and I didn't even get to first paint!  And then there is second painting after first!  What a tedious, tortuous process!  In the end, however, I believe it will be worth it!!

I decided to work on a portrait of my friend's deceased cat using this method.  I progressed in the same manner as the portrait above until I started to first paint.  All went downhill at that point.  Stay tuned to see the outcome!!




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