Friday, January 28, 2011

Day One Hundred-Thirty Eight

                                          'Color Punch'


     I tried to put the color down, and leave it alone.... such a difficult thing for me, and for some of the rest of you, it seems.   I always want to manipulate it, at least a little bit... I also tried to punch up the colors, and exaggerate the intensity to see what that might look like.  I liked the way the pears appear much more vivid, and the purple shadows I was happy with, too.  

    


     This second painting is the beginning of a portrait of my granddaughter.  I learned this technique from Chris Saper's book on Portraiture.   The idea behind the terre verde underpainting is that the green complements the fleshtone which is the color in the final painting.  The entire painting, including values is completed first, allowed to completely dry (which doesn't take more than 2 or 3 days because it's only mineral spirits and a bit of pigment)   Then the final color is painted over, and I've found it almost has to be done in one sitting....  Then, the final touches can be added a day later ( darkest darks, and the highlights)  I used this technique on my entire series of 70 portraits from a year or so ago, and was very happy with the results.

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