Portrait painting is fun!

This is going to become my mantra. I began portrait painting classes with Tom Root 3 weeks ago and my fears have started to go away. It's really just painting when it all comes down to it. Painting or drawing faces and the human form is just another type of subject matter. Our expectations always get the better of us and portrait painting engages this phenomena even more so (for me). What I've learned so far. Working from life is always quite a different experience and even more so, I feel, with portraits. For someone like myself who is still building skills in drawing the human form, working from life is so important until a comfort level is developed. The play of light is critical in the form. When looking at a photograph, the light and form has flattened out. Volume is not as obvious.

We spent the first 2 weeks painting the portrait of Don, our model. I began lightly and timidly drawing and blocking in his face and basic form. With a light wash I started. Then I began blocking in the shadows of his face. They seemed so strong to me with the focused light streaming his face. I was happy with the apparent likeness but there was so much more to do....building more and more layers. During week 2, I felt more comfortable and really started to build on what I had, bringing out more and more definition. I was really enjoying this adventure. When the session ended, I took some last few reference photos so I could finish at home. I probably could fuss with the painting some more but I feel pretty good about what I have done. It certainly is not perfect, but I feel real progress is being made.

Week 3 of class gave us a single day model. A young man who was the son of one of my classmates. This time I used a smaller canvas. I thought this may be helpful for me in limiting the work space. It seems I continue to work large. When I compare what I am doing versus my classmates (many who are much more experienced than I), I see my approach is larger. Is this just me? Is this a tell tale sign that this is new to me? At any rate, it is what comes natural to me, so I'm just going with it for now. I felt more comfortable this time around even though I knew there were time constraints. I took my reference photo at the beginning this time which was a good thing as I could use it when the model had to take a break. My work at home continued and I have come to an end with it for now.

So in summary, it's all good. I started this workshop with quite a bit of apprehension but am really beginning to feel much more comfortable. It's a process as with all things but with determination and consistent work, we can find that happy place. Here's a peak at where I am with the 2 first paintings.