Fairy Toilette

So this was just done for fun, from an idea I had when falling asleep one night. Lots of good ideas come then, I've noticed.

Zoom for fun details.

I spent a lot of time working on the lighting of this. Richard will attest that this version looks much different than the version that existed two or three days ago.

Also: I'd like to see what happens after she manages to get that water drop into her hands. Maybe THAT's the scene I should have painted....

Curiosity

New friend portrait: Mary

I hesistate to say that I am posting this because I don't think I can take it any farther because it sounds like a cop out. I have spent hours on this, however, and have found that the places where changes could be made would take me back to the beginning steps, and I just don't have the patience to do it. As in the last portrait, I feel like this one lost some of how it looked like my friend in the beginning sketches. I've got to work more on letting color help me instead of hinder me.

In any case, here is Mary. I chose "curiosity" as a title only after first considering "adventure." Mary is always off to some great adventure or other, and never seems to have any fear of anything. As such, she has a TON of friends and has had amazing experiences. When I first thought of the word "curiosity," I thought of my first 16th century French lit class in grad school when we all had to go around the room the first day and propose one word to describe the century. Mine was "curiosité," refering to the century's scientists, doctors, theologists and philosophers who were so curious about the world around them and made fantastic discoveries. Thinking about this time in Europe's history made me think about the painter Vermeer. I decided it would be fun to incorporate a lot of elements from one of my favorite paintings of his: The Astronomer. Google it if you don't know it. I love Vermeer's use of light and tried to focus a little more than usual on the lighting here.

Still got lots to learn folks, but this portrait has given me some direction for some exercises to come.

Without the frame:

Close up of face and hands:

With this portrait I tried to be a little more "painterly" than I have previously, not refining everything to death (traditional painters can't zoom in infintesimally and reduce their brush size to practically nothing for details.)

Grace

Next friend portrait: Kaitlin.

I called this one "Grace" because Kaitlin is just so....graceful, elegant and classy. I loved painting this one and playing with the colors. Although I feel that the face lost some of its "Kaitlin-ness" somewhere along the way, I like the mood. I also am pretty proud of the hair.

Without the frame.

And a close up, although the above images can be clicked-upon for better views.

Emma on the Mississippi

Two "big" posts in one day? I've been working on both of these for some time and finally finished them both up this morning.

I was thinking a lot about Emma Smith when I decided to paint her. She had such a sad life but I wanted to paint her happy. Here she is in the Nauvoo years. For a great summary of her life, go here. I guess there is some sort of ominous foreshadowing in the stormy looking sky, but for now, she is happy.

Click in for bigger, although the resolution isn't great. I had to compress to get it to post here. Because of that, here are some close up shots of the uncompressed version.

I learned with this one to flatten the image as it allows and increase resolution working. I hate running out of pixels.

Vibrancy

Sometimes I get so excited by an idea for a painting that I feel like I have to jump on it RIGHT AWAY and get started. This was one of those times. Unfortunately the idea came to me at midnight, and so I had to wait until morning to get started.

I was thinking about my friends and the qualities that each one possesses that I admire so much. I thought it might be fun to try to do portraits of each of them featuring the characteristic that defines them most in my mind.

It is always tricky to paint people you know because the task is daunting and fear-inspiring. First of all, you worry that the person you are painting won't like what you've painted. You worry about technical errors and that the person you paint will think you "see" them the way you have painted them, if errors there be. You worry about taking artistic liberties (changing certain features slightly, perhaps) etc. etc. And then there is the most serious fear: that you as the artist will fail. Then comes discouragement and all the rest.

In spite of all that, I think this turned out well. Are there things that could have been improved? Always. Did I learn a lot from painting this? Yes. Did it capture the vibrant spirit I love about my friend? I hope so, and that was really the goal.

So here is Martha, who is beautiful in the most vibrant and colorful way possible.

As always, click for bigger. Here it is without the frame. 

And some close ups:



Mermaid...again

This time in HD!

Still playing with lighting.

Oh, and for those of you that are wondering about the deeper meaning here...yes, she is looking out intently...thinking of how she can get her hands - er, fins - on some hot wings. 

Click for bigger!

Sarah and Chuck

Here's another Sarah. Maybe looks a little more like her. Maybe she's undercover, which is why she is not easily recognizable.

But I still think this Chuck would recognize her. HA HA HA!

Actually, this Chuck looks more like Awesome. Go figure.

Mostly trying out different lighting techniques.

Orange Orange

Sarah, from Chuck. Looks perhaps nothing like her, but it was fun! I also did a Chuck but didn't like how he came out the first time around. Maybe I'll finish him up and post him later.