Ally: 60 Hour Pose at ARA

I had the extreme pleasure of working on a figure for 60 hours, the longest time I have ever had in front of a model.  Though this falls far short of the 100 hours full time students at ARA are afforded, I feel that, with the assistance of my fabulous instructor, Emmy DeMusis, I was able to accomplish much.  I was extremely excited about the likeness I achieved, but I wish I had more time to render the figure. I focused on form, value, and the transitions of Ally's head.  I actually spent more time on the drawing than the 60 hours with the model, because I filled in holes, and smoothed out values during downtime.  I used a 2B, HB (last 40 minutes of the pose) on Fabriano Artistic, Hot Pressed, 140.  I tried a brush for pushing in a light value, but wasn't comfortable with it.  Furthermore, Ally was an amazing model!!  She has a great head, and pleasant demeanor which made for an all around amazing experience.

Basic Steps:

1.  Construct (39 hours)

2.  Transfer and establish a base tone for darks

3.  Key the drawing by establishing the darkest dark

4.  Work on form shapes and values

5.  Transitions

QAA: 1 Hour Study

QAA: 11/2 Hour Study

I liked the relaxed pose:

QAA: 1 Hour and a Half

Kylie's head is off center:

QAA One Hour Study

Today's Study: Glass

Today I decided to spend a few hours observing glass.  I have painted this vintage Chanel bottle before, but hated the composition.  I wanted to achieve the feeling of glass, but was not too successful.  I, again, did not pay close attention to the drawing.  Instead, I focused on the material.  I may touch it up a bit tomorrow, but doubtful as this was just a study.

Garlic Study, ETC...

This morning I painted garlic for 2 hours.  Like yesterday's eggplant, I studied value, hue, and form.  It was more challenging to create the form of the garlic than the eggplant, but still not too difficult.  What I struggled with was value shifts.  Part of this was a result of only using a palette knife, and my canvas was only 8X10.  In the end, I handled the paint well, matched colors, but the overall result is somewhat messy.

After I had enough of looking at garlic for one day, I went back to yesterday's eggplant, and touched it up a bit.  Still not great, but I have to remember it is only a two hour study, just to keep myself using paints.  I'll leave extended, laborious subjects for ARA.

Then, yet again, I added to the shoes that I have been working on for over a year.  I think this painting is just about complete.  There are a  few things I want to do to it, but overall, it is better than before.