A Tall Order

I decided a couple of weeks to copy a Rembrandt painting in oil. While I would have loved to paint it from the original at the Met, I will have to settle for painting from a photo that I took while I visited the Met. The photo does not show the impasto in the lights. If I get around to it I'll photograph a detail of it. I have about 10 hours invested so far with plenty more to follow. I'll post a photo the painting when I'm finished.

In Progress

Painting update on Riley. Working on painting the smaller shapes. I have to constantly remind myself to paint shapes of color and to proceed from the largest shape to the smallest. My teach er would say start with a broom and end with needle. For those interested I am painting this is Photoshop and I am only using the Airbrush Pen Opacity Flow Brush to paint and the heal brush to blend.

For Those Interested

Here is the progress I'm making on painting Riley. If I haven't mentioned already I am painting this from a photo. Total time: 40 mins.

Improvements

After talking with my art director* I made some much need improvements.


*My art director is my wife.

Something Different

Chester loves ballons.

Riley: Establishing the Darks

Focusing on painting shapes. In this case the shapes of the darkest darks firsts then stating the shapes of the lighter darks. I'm not so sure I'm satisfied with the color and richness of the shadows. I'll have to reevaluate it next time. Total time: 40 mins.

Riley 2nd Pass

This is the second drawing. I'm drawing with a darker color and a smaller brush. The canvas size is the same as the image size, which is about 12x8 @ 240 dpi. Total time: 50 mins.

Riley 1st Pass

This is an attempt to paint a portrait of my daughter. This is the 1st pass drawing, which is done with a value that is only slightly darker than the background value. Total time - 30 mins.

Lines and Colors

My thanks to Charley Parker at Lines and Colors for being today's feature on his website. The web address is: http://www.linesandcolors.com, the address to the feature is: http://www.linesandcolors.com/2007/05/25/jamin-lefave/. For those who haven't checked out the site before it is a great website that features a wide variety of artists from fine art, to illustration, to concept art.

Almost There

Still hacking away at it. Almost done.

Self Portrait - A Work In Progress

I've been working on this for a while. I am in the process of finishing it before I take up the installments I've previously posted. As a side note - flipping the image horizontally is a great way to see drawing mistakes.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

I have been working on this one for a while. I had to restrain myself from posting it prematurely just for the sake of posting something. This is a variation of a painting that got excepted in to the Society of Illustrators Student Exhibition in 2005. I would like to think that this the better of the two.

Jared

This is a portrait of my friend Jared Miller. His is a great friend and a great artist. I am think of posting a tutorial about realistic observational drawing. It may take a while, but I am sure it will be useful to someone, even if that someone is myself.

Micah

This is a portrait of my son, Micah. I tried to incorporate more texture, so that it doesn't look so digital. I think I was successful in achieving a very accurate likeness, but we'll see if it passes the "mommy test". What is the "mommy test"? you ask. The "mommy test" is were the mommy looks at the portrait and can tell who's child it is. Amendment March 7th: Upon showing the previous painting of Micah to my wife she was quick to make some suggestions. I deleted the previous painting from my blog made some minor changes and added this image. Hopefully the small changes will make a difference.

Yet Another Page From the Sketchbook

Here is a drawing from my sketchbook. I am really partial to the mother and child theme. I definitely want to explore it more. A series of paintings would be great. It has been an ambition of mine since I was in college. I might have to continue to put a hold on that idea until time permits me to devote enough time.

Drawing Exercises

This is an example of a drawing exercise that I like to do. The drawing is a from a cast drawing from the Charles Bargue Drawing Course book. This is a great exercise in and of itself. I use a modified version of the sight size method in my sketchbook which really helps me focus and measure and really observe what I am seeing. After I spend several hours or more drawing I usually wait a day or two or more to draw the same drawing from memory without referring to my previous drawing. I know when I am done because I can't remember anything else to draw. This exercise is so helpful in forcing me to really be observant and to file the information in my brain ready to access at any moment when I am doing my creative drawings. The next step is to redesign my memory drawing, exaggerating some features and the overall shape of the head. I use my memory drawing for reference. I draw just to the right of my memory drawing so I can refer back to it without having to flip the page. This helps me to feel less confined to what I saw in the original, plus it is a simplified version of the original which helps me to simplify things. I take the drawing as far as my memory drawing will let me and then I pull out the original reference and add the details and really refine the drawing. This is an example of the three drawing exercises.

Nu Pastel

This is a figure drawing I did in Nu Pastel when I was in school at BYU. Nu pastel is a great medium to work in, you can cover large areas and establish values quickly. I love drawing on newsprint. It seems to be more forgiving than other papers I've tried. The only down side to it is that it yellows and becomes brittle over time. I guess that only matters if I thought someone would be seeing them fifty or a hundred years from now.

A Page From the Sketchbook

Here is a page from my sketchbook. Most of the drawings from my sketchbook are from observation. Every once in a while I draw from my imagination or from memory.

Making Progress

I took some time this weekend to continue painting the portrait of a friend of mine, Spencer Nuggent. As I had mentioned in a previous post, it had been a while since I last painted it (2 years was too long) and I was a little concerned that I might do something to mess it up. But, I overcame my fears and set the paint brush to the canvas and this was the result. My goal is to finish it by March. I am not happy with the photo I took, I definitely need to make some improvements in take photos of my art work.

Figure Drawing

This is from a figure drawing session at Wahoo Studio. It's where I work. They have figure drawing sessions about twice a month. These are a great opportunity for me to draw from life and sharpen my observational skills. Every once in awhile I am fortunate enough to produce a drawing that I like. This was one of those.