Home Forums Explore Media Oil Painting Oil Painting – Hall of Fame Oil-from-life challenge, Feb. 2019: optional "pink" theme!

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  • #468506
    Grotius
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        Let’s paint from life! As always, feel free to post whatever you like — landscapes, portraits, figures, still lifes, whatever — so long as your work is painted primarily from life. This month we’re suggesting a “pink” optional theme — pink flowers, Valentines, pink cubes (that’s for you, Ronsu!), pink noses, pink sunsets, whatever. As always, the theme is just a suggestion; post whatever you like. Four guidelines:

        1. Please paint primarily from life — not from photographs or imagination. It’s okay to post finished studio works based on studies from life; in that case, please post the original study as well as the finished work.

        2. Please submit something created either last month or this month, not something you’ve done in the more distant past.

        3. Please paint in oils. That said, please feel free to post studies in any other medium, so long as you also post your oil painting(s).

        4. Please list the size of your painting and support. E.g., ‘”8×10″, oil on panel.’

        Optional: Tell us the title of your painting!

        Future challenges: in March we may do a “painting every other day” challenge or some such. For April, I’m thinking plein air. But always open to suggestions.

        —————–

        Unfinished works, studies, and outright failures are all welcome. There’s no requirement that you invite comment & critique. If you’d rather post without being critiqued, just say so; that’s fine by me!

        You can find older oil-from-life threads in the “hall of fame” sub-forum of the Oil Painting forum.

        I hope you’ll all consider posting a painting or two! Thanks.

        - Geoff.
        My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

        #774520
        ronsu18
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            Thank you for the new thread! living in the middle ages atm, trying to think of old masters mixing reluctant oil color in low temperatures and thinking of dutch portraits of people draped in loose layered velvet falls… ☺

            C&C welcome

            #774504
            Grotius
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                I take it you’re very cold? It’s been awful chilly here, to say the least. My studio is frosty, and I haven’t felt like being in there, even with my space heater. But today I have life class, so off to paint there.

                - Geoff.
                My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

                #774505
                Grotius
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                    And paint I did. But I stupidly left my painting and easel in the studio, and my instructor took them both home with them, so I don’t have a photo of progress after the full 2-hour session. I do have this photo I took while I was still working on the lay-in, maybe 45 minutes in. It’s a start, I guess, lol. It’s rather strange, as the grey of my support is still showing through in many spots. “Moe, seated,” oil on panel, 12″ x 16.”

                    - Geoff.
                    My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

                    #774521
                    ronsu18
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                        ok that’s a bit early a stage to comment. still noticing with interest the use of red to constrain head area limits. an intuitive move related to skin color? that’s intriguing and inspiring.

                        the fire cracked my chimney so fire is banned in the broken section. can’t use the heating system. using a 1950’s wood stove and electric heaters to keep two rooms livable, but not the study. water froze the night before the fire – no point calling the plumber; it would only freeze again with no heat. still very aware of how lucky i was. gratefully and literally living in the middle ages.

                        C&C welcome

                        #774495
                        moscatel
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                            Ronsu, sorry to read about the fire. Sounds terrible that your major heating source is damaged. Water pipes too!! It will be a lot of work to fix all those.

                            Grotius, thanks for posting wip. That´s kind of your teacher to collect your stuff from the class room.

                            I was today painting in an agave forest. It was quite an experience for me. These plants are totally new to me to see them live and paint them. There was many possibilities for the subject, a windmill with agave, white tree trunk eucalyptuses with agave but I chose today a sea & mountain view with agave. There was something beautiful in the atmosphere in that direction. I´m glad I left Bengal cat home because it would have been a heavy and hot day for her. I was tired after 3 hours of painting, besides wind started to rise so I decided to work more in the front of the painting at home and overall fix some areas of the painting later today or tomorrow. This place is near Almeria. The turquoise color in my painting is sea and after painting I went to sleep siesta at the beach. :)

                            “Genoveses Agave Forest”, oil on canvas, 30×40 cm

                            #774517
                            AllisonR
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                                I’m still working on both flower paintings, next is a painting based on a photo (yuck, :o but sometimes necessary), and I’m off to Athens Greece in week 6-7, so probably won’t join this thread. have fun everyone.

                                moscatel – what a wonderful location you are in! Fascinating plants.

                                Being born places you at a greater risk of dying later in life.

                                http://www.artallison.com/
                                #774506
                                Grotius
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                                    Moscatel, I agree, those are very interesting plants. Also you did a fine job capturing that blue-turquoise you mentioned. Always glad when I see you posting here!

                                    Allison, I too am working on a (commissioned) piece that’s not from life — blecch. I find it easier, and more fun, to work from life. So I hear ya! I hope you drop in here occasionally to comment, in any case.

                                    - Geoff.
                                    My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

                                    #774522
                                    ronsu18
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                                        you guys are raising the temperature!
                                        moscatel that looks really good, the variety of greens with the powerful blues sing a beautiful harmony, tufts and shapes creating interest. a fun view to paint!
                                        Allison lucky you! any plein air plans? 😀

                                        C&C welcome

                                        #774496
                                        moscatel
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                                            you guys are raising the temperature

                                            :thumbsup: :lol: … and thank you! It is a nice place to stand for three hours, an experience.

                                            Allison, have a lovely trip. Which island are you heading? Thank you for commenting!

                                            Grotius, thanks!
                                            Commission can be demanding to do, I imagine. How do you feel about it after doing one/(several)? A question about your post earlier, do you draw any concrete lines of the figure you´re painting or do you approach with big shapes from the beginning? What kind of approach is your teacher using? It looks to me a similar from Nelson Shanks or maybe Richard Schmidt ..

                                            #774507
                                            Grotius
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                                                Hi Moscatel,

                                                Thanks for your questions. I’ve had only 3-4 commissions so far, so I’m new to this, but I’ve mostly enjoyed doing them — even though I grumble about them. They get me out of my comfort zone, which is good; they force me to try new subjects and techniques (like working from a photo, ugh). They don’t necessarily take that long: I’ve been commissioned to do landscapes mostly, and people don’t seem that fussy. I imagine it’s different with a portrait! Also, it is nice to know you’re going to be be paid something (even if not much) for your work.

                                                As for my figurative technique, I have a couple different instructors, and they encourage different approaches. One (for whom I am working on this work-in-progress) draws and paints very precisely, and he insists on starting the lay-in with straight lines and angles, not curves. But he soon suggests I add negative space to help get shapes right, and he also seems to favor blocking in shadows fairly early. But at every stage he’s insistent about getting the proportions right.

                                                My other instructor is more like Richard Schmid, or maybe Chuck Sovek, who advocated massing in. This instructor is more freewheeling. She’ll suggest an oval for the head (not straight lines) and just dive in. She wants to see light-side/shadow-side very early, and improve the drawing as you go. To be honest, I seem to produce better work for her. Her sensibilities are more like mine too: I like some mystery in my painting, not a crisp poster-like image.

                                                But I’m glad I attend both life classes, because while they do offer different approaches, they also reinforce common themes — the importance of accurate drawing in the finished work; the need to separate light from shadow; the challenges of translating what we see to the 2D canvas.

                                                - Geoff.
                                                My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

                                                #774497
                                                moscatel
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                                                    Grotius, I´d say commissions suit you well. You seems to enjoy doing them and that is a good thing. A while back I made for myself one “commission” of a child´s face. Husband showed it to the father and now father wants to buy it but I have it hanging framed at my home and so far haven´t sold it. I don´t want to sell it but the most correct place would be, of course, the father´s home. He also mentioned that he would pay for it and he does know the value of art etc. I´m thinking if I should make another and better portrait of the same kid and instead sell that to him if he still wants it (I´m sure he does). This finished one is a one week sketch only so I´m thinking that it´s not good enough or something, although I do like it.
                                                    You are right, it´s good to have different teachers so that you can pick what best goes for you in painting.

                                                    DM Artist, I wanted also to mention that I like a lot your snow painting in the last months´s thread. Your painting is breathing, and very rich! Have you had unusual lot of snow this year?

                                                    Ronsu, are you planning to continue your painting from last month or do you call it finished? Are the white cubes sugar bites? I once made a painting of sugar bites but it turned out a strange painting and was not really never finished, I think. I´m always thinking of returning to work more on the sugar bite painting but don´t see how to make a painting out of it.

                                                    #774498
                                                    moscatel
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                                                        I´ve been painting the two past days this plein air from the terrace. I should work more on it but am very tired now so maybe I give finishing touches later. Also we´re on the road now and moving forward to another beach soon. I try to post better picture later of the painting itself. Size is something like 25×30 cm, support is canvas. Meanwhile I will think a name for this painting …

                                                        #774523
                                                        ronsu18
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                                                            your clouds! you make clouds feel real and like persons. what i like the most is the shadow chromas on the mountain. while that’s a personal preference of mine, you work it so well, color used that way is like a fourth plane binding the real to the immaterial by sight. love that, it’s why i like Richard Schmid. while i’ve not painted i’m always thinking of painting, the sugarcubes look so poorly now they need more even if it ruins them. they’re not even failed atm. we’ve these stunning, long sunsets with lots of peach and bubblegum pink – fingers crossed but no holding breath.

                                                            C&C welcome

                                                            #774508
                                                            Grotius
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                                                                Yet another breathtaking scene to paint, Moscatel! Your life seems so much more interesting than mine — you travel to such cool places!

                                                                As for your commission, sure, why not do another painting and sell that to the dad instead? In my experience, customers aren’t all that fussy — they just find it cool to say their favorite person or thing memorialized in oil paint. So give it a try!

                                                                - Geoff.
                                                                My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

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