BILL

Diane Mannion, BILL, 12x9" oil on linen

VENICE ART CENTER PORTRAIT STUDIO

Spent an afternoon at the Venice Art Center Portrait Studio painting Bill who posed for two hours.  Open portrait studio meets Friday 1-3:30 ($8 members, $10 non-members). 

BILL is  #17 of the Leslie Saeta 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge... I'm a bit behind schedule but happy with the quality of my recent work and that's what really counts.  Had no trouble keeping up with the challenge in January... but this month, well... life happens.

Started BILL by rubbing an area with transparent orange oxide.  (Transparent red oxide or burnt sienna would work just as well).  Rubbed in and wiped down with paper towel leaving white canvas on the bottom.  Had no idea I would leave it white, but like how it looked in the end and left it alone.

Painted fast and bold.  Did not do a thumbnail, time flies in this studio with all the model breaks, two hours is all you can hope for.  After simple brush sketch with ultramarine and orange oxide (road map for size and proportions), slapped in the dark masses.  Mixed light colors during model breaks and worked on shirt.  Painted light side of head melding with darks.  Added a few half-tones in dark areas but kept it simple.

The collar on the right side was tough.  A yellowish white that turned green when I tried to darken it.  Finally mixed cad orange with ultramarine blue and found what I was looking for.

Added highlights and glasses during the last few poses and worked on background.

Didn't take any progression photos, too busy painting to stop.  And during breaks had a lot of catching up to do with artist friends I hadn't seen in a while and getting to know new ones.

Bill's posing again next Friday... we've asked him to bring some hats and wear a different shirt.  Excellent model, gets back in position perfectly and holds still as granite.  Great fun and practice!