Work in Progress, Open Studio

Pictured above is a 16"x12" oil portrait I'm currently working on. Sign up for my newsletter to receive an announcement for my upcoming Open Studio event to see this and other sample portraits:
http://hbedrosian.fineartstudioonline.com/email-newsletter

Kevin Framed

I'm posting this photo of Kevin framed partly because I really like the frame, and partly to feel productive because I do not have any more artwork to show at the moment! I did start a new larger oil painting (not a commission), but I had to abandon it after a few days of working on it. I was struggling with it in every way - proportions, colors, values... and I also realized that I wasn't too happy about the overall idea after I had already worked on it for hours and hours. It was an expensive mistake, but I learned to plan better for my paintings - especially the larger ones - in the future. In the meantime, I am starting a smaller portrait that will hopefully get me comfortable with oil painting again.

"Next" Completed

I was inspired to do this piece attending a piano recital recently, when I recalled my own experience waiting for my turn to play even more than the act of getting up on stage and actually playing the recital piece. I've decided to call this colored pencil drawing "Next".

Almost There...

My colored pencil work in progress is at the stage where I will spray it with workable fixative, and then go over the entire piece making adjustments in value and color, as well as cleaning up rough areas.

My plan is to complete this piece by Wednesday, and have it mounted and scanned at Image-Tec... the final piece should be posted by this Thursday.

Colored Pencil Drawing in Progress

I've done a bit more on my drawing of children at a piano recital. You can see that the chair on the left is more dull than the chair on the right, due to "wax bloom". Over time, the wax in the colored pencils rises to the surface, creating a grayish cast that is especially obvious with darker colors. I will remedy this by gently wiping the surface and spraying with a workable fixative.

Recital Drawing - In Progress

I've been making slow progress (enjoying the warm weather and busy with other stuff too) on a new colored pencil drawing of children at a recital. In the progress photo shown here you can see that I am working left to right in order to avoid smudging the pencil on the sanded paper. This makes it difficult to judge the piece as a whole, but my plan is to make final adjustments once I've laid down most of the pigment (and the pencil is less smudgy).

This piece started off as a really rough 3x4 grid drawing on 18"x24" paper, based on a 6"x8" photograph divided similarly. You can see here that I really haven't gotten any details down, but rather just made markings to place the composition elements. I don't like to start with too many details early on because then I get bogged down and lose sight of the overall proportions.

After getting the basic drawing down, I start creating contours with a dark green, red, or blue. I work very quickly in order to get the basic impressions of the drawing, knowing that I will be laying down various other darks, mid-tones, and lights later on, thereby continuously refining my drawing. Another reason I like to work quickly in the initial stages is to allow my subconscious mind to work and get a more intuitive depiction of the people or objects, rather than slavishly copying a photo in a more mechanical fashion. 

Kevin - BoldBrush Painting Contest Finalist

My portrait of Kevin has been selected as one of the finalists in the BoldBrush Painting Contest!

FAV 15%

Finalist

BoldBrush


Painting Contest

June 2010