Glaze in the Future

I have done a little more work on the self portrait this week. (Like the addition of eyes! Though I'll be it lop sided eyes). I spent a little time deepening the shadows on the neck and face. My next step I think will be to work on the eyes and shape of the nose a little more. Alter the general shape of the face and extend the hair and perhaps take it back a few shades into a lighter colour, because I think I might be working with Glazes from now on.
I want to be able to add a little bit more natural tone to the skin. I'm definitely going to keep things in the very cool tones though. I like the appearance of that. I might distort where the hair meets the background so that it melds together and step the blue back into a warmer tone so that the face really stands out with all the cool tones.


I am enjoying the process of this painting. I like looking at it and contemplating my next step. On the first round I used a lot of oil with my paints (because it's so nice to paint with a very oily paint, [I use the word sexy to describe it!]) but I was disappointed to find out (or to remember) how long it takes to dry! I was eager to work on it again but had to wait a good number of days before the surface was paintable again. This round I used less oil and more Taltine and the drying time has been much more manageable (I no longer get the ants in my pants dance when I'm walking past it chanting "dry dry dry God dammit!")

I've got some ideas for some other paintings, and might start juggling a few of them. I'm also slowly working on a painting for my sister. I'll post some photos when it's something other than just white! But I really want the surface of this painting to be silky smooth. So I'm taking a lot of time in the sanding and gessoing stage. That's also giving me enough time to contemplate what this paintings actually going to look like, because as its stands I only have a vague idea, and it's mostly around the colour and feel of it. And I like to work with a clear conception of the work in my head. When I work without one, I usually end up hating what I've created and scraping it. Like the silly Ghost hair. Though it still hangs on my wall I'm not a fan of it. Ok I kind of like it, but some of the choices I made were awful! But I suppose that's the whole idea, not to become to attached so that the spur of the moment choices that do work can come out.

On another completely different note, but I suppose some what related, is music. Paul has given me a shit load of great new music, and while painting I have been listening to The Avett Brothers. Who I have quickly come to adore. They have great lyrics and vocal abilities that makes them a joy to sing along with. I've also been listening to Giant Hand who Paul also directed my attention to... Which lead me to this band called Handsome Furs. So I'm having a New Music smorgasborg.

Face Time

It's a new Semester, with new ideas and projects in mind.
First thing on the bill is a little building exercise for a class of mine, (that is not studio by the way) the ever infamous self portrait. Any medium, any style.
I've got thing set up for painting and it has been over a year since I painted a self portrait last. So to get the paint juices flowing I've decided to dive into my rusty skills. I realized how much I'd forgot already about oil painting when I started to gesso things up! I was off to a rough start. But you know what, I decided to wing the rest of it, and in no time I remembered stuff, like that it's easier and less wasteful to mix your colours with a palette knife. *reminder to self, pick up a palette knife!

But here's what I've got thus far, I've included two other pre-in the works shots as well.

The outline and the gist of what I wanted to do.
I originally had a pinkish gesso down. After talking to a painting expert I realized what I wanted should actually go on top of a cool back ground. I went half way there with this shitty purple.
I was surprised how much the colour did mess with how the other colours I was putting down. Just as the expert said it would... I was always adding more white because I felt that the skin tone was way to warm for what I wanted. (as you can see in the third shot how different it ends up looking once that purple was covered.

My goal is to get this kind of snobbish up turned nose thing going on. I want it to have a little bit of *oh you think your so great do you* look to it. Why? Well I find that often when people are asked to provide a self portrait of themselves (painted or otherwise) they want to show all the best qualities they posses. Kind eyes, great skin, not a blemish in sight. Really they want to present is the idealized version of themselves. Not that they don't have those qualities but they are not showing some of the other... less idealized ones.
And sometimes I find that I can be a snob.
Yes, I know... a snob.
So the up turn face and the case down eyes are hopefully going to convey that.
And don't you worry, I'm totally idealizing some of my other features... Flawless skin? Yes please!Once the hair and background were placed in, the image cooled right the hell down. And as always I've used a limited colour palette in my skin tones, but I hope to deepen those up on the next go. The hair I want to go much deeper, dark and swarming, I kind of want it to take over the rest of the space, even blend away completely into the background.
And of course work more on creating that cast down look of pride and superiority that I some times strut around with.