Here's Thursday's workshop painting, painted from life on an 11"x14" canvas. I painted over a painting of a street scene from about four years ago, when I first started to try to learn to paint in oils.The model was reading the book Long May She Wave by Hinrichs, Hirasuna and Heffernan, a "graphic history" of the American flag. Coincidentally, this is a book I know and was fascinated with when I first saw it. I wanted to imply the element of Americana that the book represents in my little head study, so I painted red, white and blue over the model's head.
Is your subject a She, or a He??
ReplyDeleteI didn't name the model because I took a quite handsome gentleman and aged him and fattened him for this painting. So, protecting the innocent.
ReplyDeleteOf course it's a man. A thinking man. So 11x14 inches -- for some reason I imagine these paintings are so much larger.
ReplyDeleteLooking at this painting, it really would work as a much larger piece. In theory I'm heading toward larger paintings, but I'm also cheap and thrifty, so I grabbed this canvas to reuse it.
ReplyDeleteWell done - I love the way you subtly worked the Americana symbolism in, and the features are beautifully painted. Do you work in oils?
ReplyDeleteThanks. Yes, I'm learning to use oils and working to infuse my oils with the gesture and beauty that it's so easy to achieve with drawing. What I'm working on right now is a much larger than life oil head and I'm trying out--and loving--the M Graham oil paints you mentioned in your blog. They flow better and stink less than my other paints. So far my only dislike of them is that they come in such small tubes.
ReplyDeleteI also like the subtlety of the flag colors (don't like to be slapped in the face with it) and the wonderful thoughtful look you've captured.
ReplyDeleteThanks. The funny part is that I was thinking red white and blue, but when I painted it I painted blue red and white (reading from right to left, which is what I frequently do). Weird, but it feels right to me in terms of the balance of the painting.
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