Last winter I started a sketchbook that I intended to fill with portraits. Time passed, the weather improved and I've been outside painting. Where did April and May go? There is still space in the sketchbook so I found some interesting faces to sketch from the tv film "The Vikings". Photos were by Jonathan Hession. Don't the men look rugged and dangerous?
Looking back, I found a drawing that I wanted to paint. Photo by Brian Ingram. I don't know her name, so I'm calling her Amanda. "Amanda" is in oil, 10" x 10"
Working on portraits in my home studio during snowy days, still in the American Indian mood, inspired from the last Studio 30 model in the Black Foot dress, and a book of photos by Edward S. Curtis. The woman's portrait is in acrylic, started awhile ago at Studio 30 but unfinished. I added features from a photo and some imagination. Later I did some pencil studies from the Curtis Native Americans, and made a portrait in oil of an Apache man. The textures of acrylic and oil are so different, and seen in reality, the oil painting is so much more vibrant. Still, there are advantages and pleasures in different media. The acrylic portrait is dry while the Apache in oil will have to wait patiently before he goes anywhere. I will also wait patiently for the snow and ice to go away before I venture out.
Rico, our model at Studio 30, seemed to bring the color and warmth of the West Indies to us at Studio 30, brightening the Portland Spring day. I did two acrylic studies, one with the tropical influence in the background, the second one simpler, but with more of a relaxed smile.
