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!!
