"I Concentrate on You"

"I concentrate on you" is an old song. It is one of

the cuts on one of my friend Carey's albums, and

since this is a painting of him, it seemed the perfect

title. His beloved and gorgeous custom-made

guitar makes beautiful music with his accomplished

fingers and phrasing! He concentrates on that jewel

of an instrument.

I worked on this painting over many months and

almost hated to finish it because it was a constant

reminder of the beautiful music Carey creates and

painting it reminded me of his favored tunes from

the 30s and 40s. My favorite era too....though it

was really my parent's music!

I altered the background somewhat so that it

complimented him more that what was actually

there in that room. I added the fire to show more

of the warm heart of his music and his love for it.

It is an oil painting on a panel. 18" x 24". Please

do comment here and let me know what you think.

Next stage of the guitarist

So now I've got some background in place, though

I'm not sure it really helps the painting all that

much. I may paint it out and just let the man

and his music 'stand' alone! This painting is on

an 18" x 24" panel. I've used Mars Violet in the

background. It is an interesting rosy brown that

seems to harmonize with the colors he is wearing.

I really like the blue of his shirt in contrast to

the other colors.

Let me know what you think of it. I always

appreciate people posting their comments here.

Getting started

This is how I generally work from a photograph

I've taken. I take the print to Kinko's and blow it

up and crop it if necessary. Then I have two prints

made. I make a grid on one, and have the other for

reference without any lines from gridding on it. It

is the top photo that I folded and made grid lines on.

You can see the folds in it if you click on this image

and see it larger.

When I am doing a portrait, I never worry about

likeness in the sketch stage. Just general proportions

of the face. I then work it out on the painting surface.

This sketch is on newsprint. I will transfer it by putting

charcoal on the back of the drawing and then going over

the drawing while it is taped to the panel I'm going to

paint on (or canvas).

This painting is going to be 18 x 24 and in oil on a panel.

Completed Portrait

This is the completed and accepted portrait.

When one paints for others, and most especially

when it is a portrait, it is a joint affair. One must

please oneself in terms of one's art goals for the

work, but also one must meet what is wanted

by those who commission you to paint. When

both or all parties are satisfied, it is the most

wonderful thing to be an artist.

Portrait progress continuing!

I've started putting in the lovely

hair strands across her face. Of course

one needs to have the face properly

developed in order to then do this.

It is also interesting when doing the

mouth on a young girl who doesn't

need to wear lipstick, just how delicate

the slight blush of color is!

Also note that the background has been

more developed. I have put more light

behind her head. It has a subtle diagonal

flow that forms a sort of X with the flow

of her entire body position.

I need to lighten up the dark shadow

of her apron by her elbow and modify

the tones of the apron just above it.

And then there is......... OK, enough.

Stay tuned!

Portrait progress

In my recent painting session of this

portrait (which I am really loving, I

have to admit), I worked out to bring

out the apron, its tones and color. I

pulled in a little of the background

color to it which you can see if you click

on the image to enlarge it (oh heavens,

a magnifying mirror experience!).

I have put in the darks of her hair and

spent considerable time on the subtlties

of edges in many places. I have begun

to work more on her face, though that

is usually what I do last.

Portrait progress -

This is a continuation of the first stage of

applying thin layers and working out

colors. The background in a portrait is

very important in terms of setting off

the tones of the subject. I have put on

a thin wash of lavendars going from blue-

lavendar to a pinker lavendar. I want the

colors of the background, as well as the tones

of it to set her beautiful self just right!

Portrait with initial paint layer

I almost always underpaint any painting

I am doing. It gives a good middle tone or

value to the work and makes it easier to

determine the darks and lights. I couldn't

resist trying out the turquoise that I will

use for her shirt...but the next go will be

the under-layers of skin tones. So everything

you see here is preliminary to the final paint

layers.

This portrait is 18" x 24" on linen canvas.

How my portraits develop

The first drawing is my preliminary one

where I work out the proportions and

composition. It is on newsprint. Then

in the second drawing, you see what I

have transferred to canvas from the

paper drawing. I don't add in any tone

or value on the canvas as that will happen

with paint. I also don't worry about too

much precision for the features at this

early stage. That will come once I am

painting. Stay tuned! I'm excited about

this!

He Just Keeps Growing!

I just returned this painting

(having varnished it) to the owners

who commissioned it last year. This

young fellow sits proudly in front of

his image, but he is so much bigger now!

His mom commented on how much

brighter the colors look with the varnish

applied (Gamvar - the same varnish

used by the National Gallery of Art

in Washington, D.C.)

I got to hear this young man, not quite

six years old, play the piano very nicely.

Wow, I was impressed. Then he told me

about work he'd seen at the National

Gallery on a field trip, artist's names and

all. Very impressive.

Sorry about the flash marring one's view

of the portrait...it was really a 'grab shot'

as my photographer Dad used to say.