Head study (26.10.17)

Head study (26.10.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

Painted from life in 2 hours. The backlit effect isn't strong enough, and the mouth/cheek region is incomplete in terms of form description. Reading Solomon's book on painting, and noticed a few interesting pointers which I overlooked previously. There is actually a step, after painting the middle tones, that you paint the darkest shadows in order to secure the salient passages of the drawing and the higher lights (p.117). I had always thought to put that in at the beginning too, but I guess it makes sense to do it again anyway, as the middle tone lay in would probably have obliterated the initial brush drawing. I must also not be too stiff in sticking to the brush drawing.. although accuracy is sought for right from the start, I must learn to vary the edges in order to show solidity. Sculpt the form through edges!

Head study (12.10.17) with process

Portrait study (12.10.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

Close-up, and process shots below:

Painted from life at the Thursday night sessions, about 2 hours (7:30 - 9:30pm).

It's back to basics again. I decided to revisit carefully what Solomon J Solomon taught in his oil painting book, especially the seemingly simple process he demonstrated: 1) Brush drawing, 2) Mid-tones, 3) Shadows and lights painted into the wet mid-tone, 4) Finishing.

I'm still a little fragmentary in my tone, as you can see I have problems gradating the tone from the distinct jaw shadow, to the lower-cheek.. it's still quite choppy, even more apparent when photographed. 

Before I started the study, I wrote on my palette: Primacy of Drawing! Primacy of Tone. Gradate the lights. Also, at the starting stage, don't be lazy, use a fine brush to outline as many key points as possible- the mid-tone will be painted right into their borders. Then when painting the mid-tone, resist the temptation to variegate too early. The more simple the means of expression, the more powerful it is.

I cut down on the use of the painting medium. Too slippery/wet a surface makes it hard to scumble sensitively. But I still over-used the medium in the dark side of the face, making the adjustment of colour there difficult (there is this warm to cool transition I could observe, but somehow difficult to paint).

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Head study (28.09.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

Painted in about 2 hours. Still struggling, thinking more about edges.. squint for edges too! And that drawing problem always creeps up.. it's that, and values, then edges, for me.

But for the last few weeks, I have the great honour to be painting behind a great local artist! Check out his instagram here @chongenart. The photos don't do justice to his work- watching him paint, and seeing the actual painting is really an inspiring experience!

Oil sketches from unposed subjects

Quick colour studies from life, with unposed subjects, movement and all. Painted on canvas pad, 8 x 12 inches.

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Head study (14.09.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

Painted from life in about 2 hours. So chalky, much disappoint.

Study: Still-life

Colour study

2017

Oil on canvas pad

12 x 8 inches

Continuing my studies and modifying the way I mix greys. I think I misuse black and the umbers often. And my drawing of ellipses.. argh! Below is the first sketch, I am trying to get the hang of transparent washes, before over-painting with more opaque paint, without the thing become a slippery mess.

Study: Corner of my room

Study (Corner of my room)

2017

Oil on canvas pad

8 x 12 inches 

Experimenting with more cadmium colours, eliminating black and burnt umber, mixing greys with complementary colours etc.

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Portrait study (31.08.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

And the comparison with the brush drawing, before painting:

I am trying to work more carefully these days. I think I wasn't rigorous enough with my form/drawing for quite a while. Even if the results turn out more "stiff" or "dead", I have to push myself, and not hide bad drawing behind spurious brushwork. So I'll most likely continue painting like this for a while. It is not exactly a slower method. This was done in about 2 hours from life. Another thing which helped was pre-mixing the colours. I mixed up an approx. 5YR 6/4 and a value 6 grey. There was a burnt umber-ish colour which I grinded up (from pigment/oil) in 2008- 9 years later, the paint was still quite fresh!

Screencap study dump

Screencap studies on canvas pad, about 9 x 12 inches each.

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Head study (03.08.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

Painted from life in slightly more than an hour. Self-criticism: The likeness is very off, made the sitter a totally different person. An experienced artist pointed out that the mouth was painted too low, so I adjusted it, but didn't have time to refine the edges. In my impatience to use up my paint, I over-worked the background and clothing, making a sad excuse of a smudge on the canvas. The big form could be improved more, that over-worked cheek definition almost looks like a scar.

Failures aside, my process is becoming more streamlined or methodical. I am trying to restrain my drawing, control the amount of medium on the brush/canvas, and trying to paint more like Bouguereau and less like Van Gogh, if that makes any sense.

Photo study, mid to high chroma skin tone

The photo of the painting isn't too good, lost a lot of the subtle modelling of the face, and edges.

This is the result of a colour experiment with a painter friend, we were trying to hit the highest chroma with burnt sienna and yellow ochre (it hits the limit pretty fast, especially after adding white). I didn't take a picture of the first layer, but I approached the problem by applying a thin rubbing of the YR mixture on a white canvas- this increases the chroma dramatically. However, I don't like painting thinly. So after the first layer is dried, I mixed up a 5YR range which is about chroma 12-14. From darkest to lightest, burnt umber, burnt sienna, cadmium red light, cadmium orange, cadmium yellow medium, then white. This gives the range as you can see in the second picture.

I scumbled the middle tone over the entire head, then painted the variations "into the soup", an old school academic technique. The most challenging thing is the profile meeting the dark background- I tried applying a buffer zone of alizarin crimson. I'm trying to streamline my painting process, and the daily fundamentals are helping lots.

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Head study (13.07.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

Notes: This week I'm trying to practice "holding the local hue". Meaning, if the flesh tone is 5YR 5/4, I should mix up the tones within the hue (5YR) and the chroma (4), not varying the hue much. (given that the lighting source is an ordinary flourescent lamp) The variations of cool tones are often over-stated (skin does not pick up that much cold tones from the environment especially for swarthy complexions).

Another advantage of "holding the hue" is that you avoid weird mixtures or unintentional "cross-mixing". You can then focus on rendering the head with value, much like if you were doing drawing. This is something like solving 2 of the components of colour (the hue and chroma) then having to only attack one (the value).

For self-criticism, I am most dissatisfied with the big form rendering of the neck to shoulders, it looks illogical for this lighting scheme.. I may be confused by an actual cast shadow falling on the right side. It may be the photo too, but I think the chroma of the head is at least half step or 1 step too high.

Head study

Head study (29.06.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

Oil sketches dump

Oil sketches from life, at my workplace. They are about 8-9 inches x 12 inches or thereabouts, oil on canvas panels. The interior painting was done on the same panel- after a rather clumsy start, I decided to scumble white over the entire panel and repaint it quicker.. not sure about whether it turned out better or worse.

Head study (messed up with process)

Not a successful study, but as a reminder to myself, that it is often some blunder in the fundamentals which messes up my work. The first 2 pictures above, were painted from life, showing the initial colour block in and some form description. Then the drawing got a little off, and I think the tone of the eye got too light. After about 2 hours, I went home and tried to correct it.. but without any reference, the picture gets further away from reality. I lost the big form too- as you can see in the grayscale version, the distinct shadow line on the far cheek and nose became indistinct, and of too light a tone. I must try not to repeat the same mistakes again. (Painting is 50 x 40 cm, oil on cotton canvas)

Portrait study

Portrait Study (01.06.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

Portrait study

Portrait Study (11.05.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

Notes: Painted at the Thursday life sessions, in 1.5 hours. Coincidentally, the model is my Russian language teacher! Unfortunately, after a year of no practice, my Russian language has gone очень плохо((

Head studies from moving subjects

Oil on canvas panels. Painted these at my workplace, about A5 in size.

They are painted from unposed subjects, with movement (sometimes drastic) and all that.

But it was a good test of how well I understand the structure of the head, as you have to use some mental perspective to account for the changes in angles and direction.

I'm not satisfied with the coloration, as with such 1 layer quick studies on a too absorbent surface, the oil gets absorbed into the panel too quickly, tending to shift the hue too warm.

Head study (unfinished)

Head study (20.04.17)

2017

Oil on linen

50 x 40 cm

Painted at the Thursday life sessions, 1.5 hours. There was a spotlight placed lower than the model. In addition to the brightness of the room, it was difficult for me to ascertain the light source, but a very good thing was that it forces me to paint what I see, not from what I know (which always tends to lighten the upper portion of the head). This study is considered unfinished as you can tell the nose and mouth region has some misplaced temperature, and incomplete form description.

Another thing I learned, and will try to apply next time, is the painting of hair. Because the dark of the hair (especially if it is black) will dirty the tones as it comes against the flesh, I should actually lay in a thinner mid-tone rubbing for the hair portions, then paint the flesh into it, noting hard and soft edges. This saves a little time, and also difficulty, in correcting the transitions later. Of course, my brush work still needs more work.

Watercolour portrait and studies

Watercolour portrait

2017

Watercolour on paper

21.7 x 11.9 cm

And a repost, since I got a better phone camera now:

This study was done about 2 years back, from life as well. It is near the Jalan Kubor Cemetery I think.