Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Painting From Life -- For Real!

(Study in graphite and charcoal thumbnail sketch)


This assignment was sort of scary to me, for I am, for the first time, actually painting from life. This is the first time I've painting in non-studio conditions, aside from my one attempt at painting my father that didnt go well.

MCK always says this is the only way to paint. I've seen that much of her work is done by painting her subjects at their houses etc, and so here I am with my first real attempt. The conditions, all in all, are good. It was my first time trying to use a disposable paper palette and it SUCKED. I bought them for my mother and would advise against it. I see people using them in class and after about 20 min, I don't understand how they can actually mix colors on them.

I ended up using an old desk drawer as a make-shift palette :)

I think it's going well so far. The studies and the subsequent painting were done in one session. A note on light I figured out...When painting from daylight it was great - felt like the studio, but it seems that evening hours work best for the subject. So, we set up a lamp in the same position as the sunlight but it's so interesting how it completely changed the colors that I perceive.

In the daylight the background was a cool white, while in the evening with the artificial light it was a warm beige. Also, the cool highlights have been replaced with warmer colors. I don't know how I'm going to handle all this, out here in the field, ad hoc painting as it is.

Either way this is all exciting and I'm happy to report that the skills that I've learned in class are translating to this first real experience. More updates to follow...!

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