Our model at Studio 30 last week was based on a photo of Georgia O'Keefe, complete with cow skull.
I enjoyed the pose, shapes and atmosphere, but later, did not like the face. She seemed too gray, sad and old. So I looked at the photos of Georgia and got inspired to add warmth and more of a smile. She was always beautiful and radiant, even when very old and wrinkled and weathered by the desert sun.
Continuing with the photos of Edward S. Curtis, the great photographer of Native Americans, are these two portraits. The upper one is "A Navajo Smile", the lower is "Ola, a Noatak" (Alaska). The photos are in black and white, of course, so the color is just from imagination, but the lighting in the photos is so strong that they are dramatic images right from the start. Both are in oil.
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.
At Studio 30 we had another inspiring model, Margaret ("Crow Talking Woman"), dressed in an authentic, hand made Black Foot style deerskin wedding dress, with fringes and glass beads. It was actually her wedding dress. My painting evolved into a vision of a wise woman relaxing with her memories in the forest.
Oil painting, 16" x 20".
Quick figure drawing at Hipbone Studio is excellent practice in observation. Studies are like playing scales on a musical instrument. My instruments were pencil for one minute - 15 minute sketches, then oil paint for 30 minute poses. Most were nude, featuring Jennifer's red hair and pale skin, but I especially enjoyed the costumed pose with colorful blouse, ruffled skirt and black boots. These are two of the three 30 minute poses, both on canvas.
I was covering up an old acrylic painting, just to cover it up, with no subject in mind for a new painting when I saw my cat, Scooter, blissfully sleeping on top of the file cabinet. Cats are geniuses for finding comfort in the oddest places, but they are terrible models because they move just when you want them to be still! So I quickly started an alla prima painting and grabbed my camera just in time to capture his curled up position, and used the photo to complete.
Cat Nap is 10" x 10", in acrylic.
Another fantasy model at Studio 30 with dramatic face paint, Mimi was based on "The Black Swan", but I painted her more like "The Kiss of the Spider Woman"! The lower photo was taken in the studio (was it really that red?), then I worked to soften her expression to be less scary. The background reminds me of the winter sunset from my walk a few afternoons ago. "Mimi" is painted in oil, 12" x 16".
