Oil-from-life challenge, Oct. 2019: optional "fall colors" theme!

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October 1, 2019 at 1:18 am #478643
Grotius
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Let’s paint from life! As always, feel free to post whatever you like — landscapes, portraits, figures, interiors, still lifes, whatever — so long as your work is painted primarily from life. This month I’m suggesting an optional “fall colors” theme. 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 in the last few months, 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!

—————–

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 one or more paintings this month!

- Geoff.
My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/
October 4, 2019 at 12:25 pm #888807
ilya K
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I did two easy sketches, evening after work. I did not really care much , just trying to learn, so nevermind the strange colors. Using whatever is on the palette…

The violet pepper is the same variety. They turn bright red with orange hint when ripen. Let’s hope our paint does not do such tricks

Ilya K
C&C always welcome
October 4, 2019 at 2:19 pm #888771
stapeliad Moderator, NYC
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Ilya, both paintings are very nice! I like the peppers.

Lady Mars Orange Marmalade Stapleford
Moderator: OIls, Pastels, Plein Air
Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. -Oscar Wilde
October 5, 2019 at 2:05 am #888808
ilya K
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Thanks! I liked the red one too, in a salad.

Ilya K
C&C always welcome
October 5, 2019 at 10:25 pm #888784
Grotius
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Very nice indeed! I would eat the red pepper too; not sure I’d eat the other one.

Life class was fun today. We spent a fair it of time doing gesture sketches, then watched our instructor do a terrific demo. When we finally got to painting our long pose, we had less than two hours. I’m rusty, as I haven’t been painting enough lately, but I still kinda like this one. “Dakota in profile,” oil on panel, 11″ x 14.”

- Geoff.
My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/
October 6, 2019 at 12:33 pm #888809
ilya K
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You’ve caught the difficult lighting perfectly! (That highlight on her ear does it… for me)

I’m wondering, you attend the class. Is it really to learn something new? I mean, at your experience level. Or more about sharing the pay of the models? I understand though that there may be always things to learn, like at Jessica’s night painting workshops.

I did yet another still life, in two sittings. This is my third attempt on asters, two others were one year ago when they were blooming, and it worked much better now. Firstly, I fell in love with dioxazine, as it is 100% match for the violets. And, it was the first time when I managed to paint white flowers. I did asters last year, and then had to make them blue. And my gladioluses, this summer – did not work either. All killed by titanium. But now it’s Schmincke Kremnitz white hue, and it is EXACTLY what is needed, just the right mix of titanium and zinc, perfect for someone like me.

40×50 cm stretched canvas.

Ilya K
C&C always welcome
October 8, 2019 at 1:41 am #888785
Grotius
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Lovely asters, Ilya! You got great mileage out of that dioxazine. Also, I like the rather pointilliste background. Really interesting picture!

I go to my life class to practice, yes, but also to soak up the wisdom of our instructor, who is a professional portrait artist and landscape painter. He’s very good at making helpful suggestions and critiques, and he gives useful demos. He’s also very nice about advising us about doing shows etc.

All that said, I would love to go to an open painting/drawing life session too, with no instructor. There is one on Friday nights, but I always seem to have something to do on Friday nights! When I’m in NYC, I routinely go to the Art Students League for 2 or 3 sessions of open drawing sessions with a live model, with no instructor. It’s more relaxed, and I don’t have to show my mistakes to anyone if I don’t want to, lol.

But yeah, the most important thing is just to practice drawing the figure from life. It really trains me to work quickly.

- Geoff.
My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/
October 8, 2019 at 6:32 am #888772
stapeliad Moderator, NYC
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I go to figure drawing too, both instructed and not instructed. There is great value in both.

Lady Mars Orange Marmalade Stapleford
Moderator: OIls, Pastels, Plein Air
Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. -Oscar Wilde
October 9, 2019 at 1:29 pm #888810
ilya K
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I keep trying to paint in the evenings, an hour or more. Simple things, like… pumpkins!

This happy couple was Monday plus Tuesday.

About 30×40 cm packaging paper + WMO.

Ilya K
C&C always welcome
October 10, 2019 at 1:17 pm #888786
Grotius
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Very nice, and it fits the month’s theme perfectly! Did you say it’s painted on packaging paper? Intriguing.

I’ll be back at the easel this weekend; looking forward to it.

- Geoff.
My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/
October 10, 2019 at 1:34 pm #888811
ilya K
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Thanks! Yes, not cardboard, not soft wrapping paper, but plain gray, about 250 gsm I’d say. Acrylic primed.

Ilya K
C&C always welcome
October 10, 2019 at 1:48 pm #888822
Cliff sayer
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I can only paint people not much else
October 12, 2019 at 1:01 am #888787
Grotius
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Cliff, that’s awesome! If you can paint people, you can paint anything, because nothing is harder than portraits and the figure! I really enjoy your choice of colors.

I attended an “open studio” life-drawing and life-painting session tonight. No instructor; just a monitor. We did an hour’s worth of short poses, then a two-hour long pose. I had a lot of fun with this one. “Drunken sailor,” oil on linen panel, 11″ x 14.”

- Geoff.
My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/
October 12, 2019 at 11:03 pm #888788
Grotius
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And I did this one in life class today. Not as good as yesterday’s, but not bad. “Study of a seated nude,” oil on linen, 11″ x 14.”

- Geoff.
My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/
October 13, 2019 at 3:11 am #888766
moscatel
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Wonderful work done in this thread everyone!!

Grotius, glad to see you are back with figures.

I returned home from Venice a few days ago and went back to the atelier to work on my charcoal cast.

Here’s the first painting. When I was finished ready to pack bags there came an Italian guy to talk to me. He asked me if I knew who owns the yellow house. I said I had no idea. He said “Elton John”. I responded “well, I must work more on that part of the painting …”

The air was changing constantly. The cupola was pretty much the same value as sky the moment I was painting it: had to make decision to make the other one darker. Chose cupola -> big mistake. When I look at the old master’s paintings they usually pull the Venetian sky darker (=greyer). :rolleyes:

18″x18″, oil on a canvas piece

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