Michele--

Great painting, great work.....this will get a lot of well-deserved attention.

Best to you--TE

Congratulations Michele!

And thanks for those closeups and procedure pics. Great exposure. Congrats again!

I uploaded a much better shot of the painting itself. The previous one was too contrasty.

Here's a series of shots that shows how the hands were done.

Thanks for posting these Michele-- I'm really enjoying seeing the progression!

Congratulations
 

Just wanted to say that I admire your work very much! :)

Congratulations!
Rui.

Michele, I'm curious about your process before you get to the canvas. Do you do a full size cartoon and then transfer it to the canvas? Do you use charcoal, or pencil? Did you do a color study?

We'll be moving back to Washington in another year and a half; I hope to be able to meet you then and "talk shop."
Debra

I draw the image on the canvas first with thinned burnt umber paint, or since that is often too dark, with yellow ochre.

Congratulations - from the short boy at the back of a crowd!!
 

Hello Michelle,
This portrait is another marking stone in your mile of achievements, and i'm proud to be standing in the "virtual room full of crowding admirers", and being able to be a part of this momentous experience!

Thank you for sharing! :D

Thank you ALL for your very kind comments!

I was just looking at the countries the various comments came from: the US, Italy, Singapore, Brazil, Canada, Italy, the UK, Spain and Denmark . Isn't the Internet a wonderful place when we can share our work with so many people from around the world?

Wow what an amazing journey you are on Michele. Are you still floating on cloud 9?

We are all proud of you for continuing your hard work, dedication admist many obstacles, I am sure. What an inspiration to us mere morsels like myself can aspire to and no doubt members of your own family can admire and love you for.

Add Australia to your list of world wide admirers.

Michele,

Finally! I just got to see this after retuning from the coast.

What a stunning job. What press! Great subject! You and the governor must be both thrilled.

And as a bonus, he has two adorable girls and a beautiful wife. Potential there, I'm sure!

Michele:

It is even a little better than you said cause you forgot me: Portugal ! LOL

:) :) :)

Regards and, again, congratulations for your talent!
Rui

excellent job! - You and Garth have sure made it to the major leagues!

congratulations!
Linda

Late to the party, as usual - but I still want to toast to this marvelous painter and her inspiring work!

Michele, Linda N. is right - you're now a star player in the Big Show. I don't know if our eyeballs can handle you topping this one, but I know that you surely will!

All my heartfelt congratulations on a fine work of art, and for the great recognition it has brought... and will continue to bring you.

Thanks, Rob!

The Governor just sent me a very nice quote about the painting and about working with me, which I plan to use in my marketing materials:

"Michele has an amazing talent of making the people on her canvas come alive. I was so pleased and so touched by her portrait of me. She is not only a delightful person to work with, but made the entire process thoroughly pleasant and comfortable."

Michele,
Amazing work. Congratulations. Very interesting approach. I have seen Nelson Shanks paint several times but never have I seen him paint as you did....meaning a highly detailed sketch that is painted a little at a time until almost finished before moving to the next area. In fact, what I got from his teaching was the opposite. Im not sure if he changed his style or I was just unaware that he was painting this way.

Did your client sit and pose live at all?

Also, I'm not sure if you are using much texture or not but it appears that you are not and that visible brush strokes are minimal. Do you mind telling me what type, size etc.. brushes you are using? And your medium?

Also, between sessions, when the paint dries and goes flat in areas, do you use retouch varnish or something to make the values easier to see?

Again congratulations on an incredible painting.
Mark

Hi Mark,

To answer your questions: no, the Governor's schedule did not allow for live sittings. I did two photo sessions with him and two photo sessions with his staff members prior to that, standing in for him, to test various lighting and posing options.

There is no surface texture on the painting and I don't use any medium -- just Gamblin or Winsor Newton paint straight out of the tube.

When dark areas get dull and sunken in, I brush on a 50/50 mixture of linseed oil/odorless mineral spirits to "oil out" those places. Then I wipe most of it off.

For the face, hands and the seal on the chair I used a tiny synthetic brush that is about 1/16th of an inch wide and about 1/3 of an inch long. For larger, simpler areas I used larger sizes, all in filbert shapes and mostly synthetics.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for your reply Michele. Very interesting and helpful. .It's amazing that you use such small brushes. It must take a very long time to paint in this method although I guess you dont have to rework areas much. Did I understand you correctly that you worked on this painting for about a year?? And what is the size of it?
Also, why do you prefer synthetics over sables?
Thanks,
Mark

The painting itself took about two months, though from the start of the planning, taking the photos, creating the painting, getting the framing done, and scheduling the unveiling event it was over a year.

The painting is 30 x 43".

I like synthetics over sables because they're springier, hold up better and cost less.

Michele,
You have obviously developed a very successful system of producing high quality portraits. I hope I'm not driving you crazy with questions. Im just trying to learn from the best. To get such a high degree of accuracy I suppose there has to be very little guess work. When forced to work with photos, such as in this portrait, how do you get such an accurate drawing to the canvas from which to paint into? Do you prefer working from printed photos or computer monitor (if monitor..what size do you use?) or projector...what seems to be working so well for you?
Thanks,
Mark

I do a lot of measuring to get things in the right place. I don't use a monitor as that presents me with colors and values I can't possibly replicate in paint (a monitor has a much different "color gamut", as they say, than paint does.) I work from printed photos. One of the biggest challenges I have is getting the best printed photos I can. Otherwise the painted product won't turn out right.

This painting is wonderful Michele!! Congratulations on a wonderful painting and the deserved recognition! :thumbsup:

Renee

Michele,

I have not been on line much and have just now come across this wonderful painting. You have portrayed the governor having a friendly and as Garth had said it "engaging" personalty. I really like that is it not the usual "stiff" pose. Congratulations! Nicely done ;)

Bump!
 

Hi Michele,

I wasn't posting much when this first came out a few months ago so I thought I'd use my tardiness to bump it back up again. :)

Really, really great capture of him. I got a chance to shake Governor Locke's hand at a local union rally back in the day's of WTO and what not when I worked in a union sign shop. I can tell everyone that you have definitely captured his spirit in this fine portrait. Congrats again from a former Puget Sounder. ;) :sunnysmil

~Gear