Hello,

I've been working on Steve's face today. I really missed my Naples yellow and permanent rose, so have veered from the palette and added them. Steve's face has many rose tones in it and I've become frustrated with too many colors to choose from. So this experiment is a bust. I'll try again on a face that has less hair.

Jean

That was a good call, Jean, to exchange the table top for the bench back slats. I think it was going to take some kind of mystic perspective on the slat(s) to get them under the arm and "explain" the posture.

As you noted earlier, you're inventing the light and landscape setting. Though this seems to be a bright day with lots of ambient light, there is nonetheless a very definite directional light pattern established (as, by the bright light on the shirt on our left, and the deep darks underneath the table). Keep a picture in your mind of how that light will affect all other parts of the painting, especially the figure and his clothing. Just to point to one area, I might expect the cast shadow on his shoulder to be a little darker, especially where it is closer to the head. The v-shadow under the collar (the area that wouldn't be there if this were a button-down) would probably be darker still. The shadow on that same side in the armpit area, again perhaps darker.

I'm typing offline (internet connection hassles) and I've inadvertently only copied the close-up, but there's opportunity to do the same thing, I think, in the landscape. For example, again taking the directional light to be generally from our left to right, there's good cause to make sure the ground-level foliage and lower tree-trunk area on the shoreline to our left is good and dark, unambiguously shadowy. Those trees still have their leaves and that low-angled light isn't getting very far down into them. (At least in the made-up landscape I'm visualizing.)

This attention to even small areas of value will, I think, help with the push and pull that will give the forms some dimension -- advancing, receding, going around, looking "solid".

And you're right, the sap green can be overpowering, particularly in landscapes. (You'd think something called "sap green" would be perfect, wouldn't you?) In fact, tubed greens are often difficult in this application. Experiment with mixes of your various blues and yellows. (I know that the book says they "Don't Make Green," but they do.)

Okay, we're going to try him again. Thank you for deleting the previous pink Steve, hopefully this one will be better.

Steven, thanks for the suggestions on deepening shadows, I will do that. The background landscape is not imaginary, but from a photo I took last fall. The lighting is very much like Steve's photo, I just haven't done much work on it. The foreground grasses are all lit from low left, and the background trees will make more sense. I only wanted the colors for ref for now. The landscape photo is on disc, I'll post it after I find it. The bench and picnic table came from another area in the park, lighting is wrong on that, but I'll try to fudge through when I get back there.

I spent tonight on his arms and hands and will post after I get a decent photo. These are critical for what I want to show about him and I'm purposely showing the heavy viening and gnarled look to them. I've never painted the fine hair on arms, so I guess I'm going to learn. Steve doesn't want shaved arms.

A while back I made myself do a painting of a longhorn steer, my assignment was to use no prepared brown or green. I learned a lot on that and will stay away from the sap green for the remainder of this one. I'll post it if Cynthia will approve an "animal".

;)

Jean

Here's the reference photo that I'm using for Steve's features and new glasses.

It must just have never posted, Jean, as I haven't (and wouldn't) delete an image. Sometimes, too, an image doesn't load when you access a thread, and a "refresh" will bring it up. Other than that, any disappearances will have to remain a mystery.

We'll probably have to pass on the longhorn here, but there are more than a few "enthusiastic" UT boosters within several hundred miles of me who would no doubt be interested in it.

Hi Steven,

No mystery (except to you), Linda Brandon deleted it and sent an email to me. Everything is cool.

Too bad about the longhorn, maybe I could have my grandson riding it.

Jean

Back to Steve.

I spent yesterday on his shirt and the left side of the background. I've also done a lot on his arms and hands. The smoke from the cigar will "waft" to the left over the water and up.

Steven, I was afraid to get the background colors too intense so have neutralized them some. Do I need to go more? Also, Steve always travels with a coffee cup, I'm still debating whether to add a soft rust colored mug on the bench in front of him.

Jean

Here's the photo reference of the setting for Steve. I've changed it some, to accommodate a vertical composition. You may be able to see the grasses in the foreground, I will be adding some of them when I get to that area in the painting. This is a park close to Devil's Lake here in Wisconsin. A ferry runs daily across the Wisconsin river near here and it's one of our favorite places. We've been known to ride the ferry back and forth over and over just for fun.

Jean

Hello all,

Well, I'm getting down to the nitpicking. I've decided against the coffee cup, there is enough in this already. I'll be back on his face today, repairing the glasses, completeing eyebrows, reconsidering his eyes. I've made them too large, but with all this hair covering his face I'm wondering if they should stay larger than life size in order to be seen! I'm going to change the shape of the head (beard and hair), I don't like the very round look of it.

I also don't care for the uniformity of the trees in the left background, so I'll mess them up a bit. It doesn't "read" right to me.

Well, this is where I am now. Any suggestions welcomed, and thank you for looking.

Jean

:sunnysmil

Hi all,

I hope this shows up okay. I've started to decrease the intensity of the background, left side. As Steven mentioned, that side is in shadow, with the right side catching more light. Do I need to neutralize it more? It still looks pretty intense.

I'll be rounding out his left arm more and possibly decreasing the size of the forearm, he looks like Popeye.

There will also be more of the brighter golds and greens in the foreground. And the cigar smoke will be more dense, and float to the right. I know that I've created a strong parallel line to the left and off the canvas with his pose (the legs and arm position). I'm going to try to counteract this with the foreground grass and cigar smoke drawing the eye back to the right and his face. This pose is so like Steve that I had to use it. Steven Sweeney said in another post somewhere that we recognize people not only by their face but there stance. I would recognize Steve from this pose from 100' away.

Jean