Mike

Back to model again, I painted Mike the first time that I attended the portrait night group, posted here. He brought his 16 year old Italian greyhound, Gretta, with him to pose this time. She was sitting in his lap and I had originally wanted to fit her into the painting after I had Mike taken care of, but I decided not to at the last minute. I think it would have crowded the picture a bit too much and I'm happy with this one the way it is.

oil on board, alla prima, 14" x 18"

Sketches

This one is from my head (not the coffee shop, could you tell?)

Svetta II

It was one of those nights, I got off to a bad start. I wasn't getting it down fast enough and the feeling of running out of time was only causing me to make hasty mistakes. I thought for sure it was one for the trash pile.
But then, in the last half hour session, determined not to give up, I slapped down paint to fill in the neglected skin tones, painted over misplaced eye lids, smooshed everything around, and ...I think it came out alright. Despite a few minor issues I'm pretty happy with it.

Svetta II, (same model as in this post) Oil on board, alla prima, 14"x18"

A Few Things

I've been working on some illustrations that I won't be able to show for a while so I haven't gotten to do as much drawing for myself lately. But, here are a few things.


I've been trying out some new pencils and while I was at it I got some blue lead too, just for fun.