Home Forums Explore Subjects Portraiture Portraiture Forum Library Archives September – October 2015 Portrait Challenge!

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  • #448578
    kevinwueste
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        It was brought to our attention that we have not had a portrait challenge in quite a WHILE! (thank you Shubert!) In recognition of that fact and to mark the passing of who may be, perhaps the artist-laureate of the United States ( Nelson Shanks 1937-2015). (also, thank you for the suggestion Shubert!)..

        For participants – you may post at any time as long as the thread is available! Please feel free to post works-in-progress and you are welcome to share your thoughts on the works of other members! Most often, a second ( or third) pair of eyes will improve our works! Enjoy and have fun! Please note that this is for study/learning purposes only!

        At the bottom of this post – a brief bit about Mr Shanks excerpted from the
        New York times Obituary:

        Here are some Vermeer-esque images for practice and a few Shanks portraits for study.

        John Nelson Shanks was born on Dec. 23, 1937, in Rochester and grew up in Wilmington, Del.
        He enrolled in the University of Kansas intending to become an architect, but soon transferred to the Kansas City Art Institute to study painting. After a semester he enrolled in the Art Students League in New York and traveled on a grant to Italy, landing in Florence, where he succumbed to the spell of the great artists of the Renaissance and Baroque.
        After teaching art at the Memphis Art Institute and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he returned to New York, where he taught at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League. He moved to Bucks County in 1968 and lived in Andalusia, Pa.

        There he painted landscapes and still lifes and developed a reputation as a skilled portrait painter. Over the years he painted Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, President Ronald Reagan, Luciano Pavarotti, Mstislav Rostropovich, Diana, Princess of Wales; and Arthur O. Sulzberger, after he had retired as publisher of The New York Times.
        Mr. Shanks was a realist painter who took a dim view of most trends in contemporary art. He and his wife, also a painter, founded Studio Incamminati to promote and preserve the principles of traditional painting. In addition to her, Mr. Shanks, whose first marriage ended in divorce, is survived by a son, Alexander, and three daughters: Renée Hofferman, Jennifer Shanks and Annalisa Shanks.
        Despite his commitment to traditional artistic practices, Mr. Shanks bristled at being described as an academic painter. “I incorporate subjective allusions into my work,” he told The Chicago Tribune in 1994. “And even if I wanted to paint like a former master, it wouldn’t be possible. My taste and vantage point are too different. And I’m just not interested in emulating something because it’s old and venerable.”
        Commissioned by the Union League of Philadelphia, he painted Reagan shortly after he had left the White House in 1988. It was a chore, he recalled, because Reagan kept regaling him with funny stories.
        “He’d tell a joke, and wait for a reaction, and finally he’d say, ‘You didn’t get that, did you, Nelson?,’ ” Mr. Shanks told The Miami Herald in 1995. “I couldn’t lie, I hadn’t heard a word. Then he’d start the joke all over again. It must have been very frustrating for the Great Communicator.”
        In 1994, when he undertook the first of two commissions to paint Mrs. Thatcher he rejected the big-shouldered power suits she had planned to wear for the sitting. In the end, she chose a romantic ensemble — a purple jacket and sweeping purple dress.

        i draw, paint and teach | my voice is hoarse | my shoulder hurts.
        Talent is really a capacity for a certain type of learning of knowledge and a consuming interest in the facts that contribute to that knowledge~ Andrew Loomis
        http://www.kevinwuesteart.blogspot.com
        "kevinwueste" on instagram

        #528735

        Can I join this challenge myself too? :)

        #528700
        kevinwueste
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            Can I join this challenge myself too? :)

            The challenge is open to all! Please do!

            Kevin

            i draw, paint and teach | my voice is hoarse | my shoulder hurts.
            Talent is really a capacity for a certain type of learning of knowledge and a consuming interest in the facts that contribute to that knowledge~ Andrew Loomis
            http://www.kevinwuesteart.blogspot.com
            "kevinwueste" on instagram

            #528736

            Thanks.. And when do I have to post here my finished portraits? I mean is any particular date for posting what we’ve done as it happens in other WC challenges of I can post my painting whenever it will be ready? :)

            #528701
            kevinwueste
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                Thanks.. And when do I have to post here my finished portraits? I mean is any particular date for posting what we’ve done as it happens in other WC challenges of I can post my painting whenever it will be ready? :)

                Post whenever you like over the next two months. It is encouraged for folks to post works-in-progress to get feedback..

                Kevin

                i draw, paint and teach | my voice is hoarse | my shoulder hurts.
                Talent is really a capacity for a certain type of learning of knowledge and a consuming interest in the facts that contribute to that knowledge~ Andrew Loomis
                http://www.kevinwuesteart.blogspot.com
                "kevinwueste" on instagram

                #528702
                kevinwueste
                Default

                    Well I had some free time so I gook a shot at the girl in the plastic hair thingy.. this was done in photoshop and attempted some time in the new painter but so far, I can’t figure out painter 15! All from scratch and I do my own color mixing..

                    and some of my progression:

                    and a gif.. this is my first try at a gif that I made in PS.. you can see the transition late where I adjusted her head attitude!

                    i draw, paint and teach | my voice is hoarse | my shoulder hurts.
                    Talent is really a capacity for a certain type of learning of knowledge and a consuming interest in the facts that contribute to that knowledge~ Andrew Loomis
                    http://www.kevinwuesteart.blogspot.com
                    "kevinwueste" on instagram

                    #528744
                    LilliCC
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                        I am confused (not at all a unique experience) – is this an all medium portrait challenge, or just computer/photo/design generated?

                        I am new here… and having a hellish time navigating the waters… (not at all a unique condition)

                        :eek: Lilli

                        This "EARTH" without "ART" is just "EH"?

                        #528745
                        LilliCC
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                            And exactly when did I become a “Senior Member” when I have been here like 2 – 3 weeks?

                            :eek: :eek:

                            This "EARTH" without "ART" is just "EH"?

                            #528685
                            tommie
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                                Are these photos copyright free so that when we paint or draw them we can go ahead and sell them afterward?

                                #528689
                                shubert
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                                    I am confused (not at all a unique experience) – is this an all medium portrait challenge, or just computer/photo/design generated?

                                    I am new here… and having a hellish time navigating the waters… (not at all a unique condition)

                                    :eek: Lilli

                                    Lilly, whatever your medium is fine. It’s all about practice. Most of us don’t do digital. Myself included. Check out past challenges and you’ll get the idea.

                                    #528690
                                    shubert
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                                        Nice work Kevin!

                                        #528703
                                        kevinwueste
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                                            All mediums are fine. These are not copy-right researched ( it states that in the first post in the thread). If you have some copy-right free images you would like to share – please post them!

                                            @LilliCC – when you hit 100 posts I believe..

                                            Kevin

                                            i draw, paint and teach | my voice is hoarse | my shoulder hurts.
                                            Talent is really a capacity for a certain type of learning of knowledge and a consuming interest in the facts that contribute to that knowledge~ Andrew Loomis
                                            http://www.kevinwuesteart.blogspot.com
                                            "kevinwueste" on instagram

                                            #528686
                                            tommie
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                                                Kevin, sorry I missed that part about the photos are for Study purposes only!!!! Good luck on this challenge everyone!!!

                                                #528687
                                                tommie
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                                                    Kevin, with all due respect, I don’t understand your comment about: if I have any copyright free images,feel free to post. If you mean that I have copyright free images of any Nelson Shanks paintings, I wish… if you mean that you would like me to post some portrait photos copyright free, I’d be happy to. I have some beautiful photos of my daughters. I just thought this was a Nelson Shanks challenge…. let me know …

                                                    #528704
                                                    kevinwueste
                                                    Default

                                                        Kevin, with all due respect, I don’t understand your comment about: if I have any copyright free images,feel free to post. If you mean that I have copyright free images of any Nelson Shanks paintings, I wish… if you mean that you would like me to post some portrait photos copyright free, I’d be happy to. I have some beautiful photos of my daughters. I just thought this was a Nelson Shanks challenge…. let me know …

                                                        Hi Tommie, I apologize for not being clear enough to not be misunderstood: there is (generally) no such thing as a copyright free image of original artwork. Paintings are posted for folks wishing to practice a master copy and to celebrate the work of Mr Shanks! Period.

                                                        Photos are posted for folks wishing to study from a reference. From time to time, we have posted copy-right free images for members to do work from but the idea most generally is for practice ( and not to sell, profit etc,.). AGain, if you would like to contribute some images, you are welcome to! All due respect.

                                                        Kevin

                                                        i draw, paint and teach | my voice is hoarse | my shoulder hurts.
                                                        Talent is really a capacity for a certain type of learning of knowledge and a consuming interest in the facts that contribute to that knowledge~ Andrew Loomis
                                                        http://www.kevinwuesteart.blogspot.com
                                                        "kevinwueste" on instagram

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