Self portrait
 

Hi, maybe more figurative than a formal portrait, but says a lot about me.

I found Snickers in our back yard in the middle of a blizzard 4 years ago. She had severe frost bite on all feet, ears and tail. She couldn't walk for months (while her pads grew back) so lived on my body, in my pocket, or next to me on couch etc. She still does, sits on my shoulder or lap while I paint.

I'm trying a different palette on this one, softer, not as much contrast as I normally use. Cad scarlet, cad yellow light, cerulean blue, raw umber, and black. Still trying to get comfortable with the "low key" look.

This is a work in progress, 28 x 22 inches, oil on canvas. If you see anything to comment on, please do. Your critiques always make me work harder!

Jean

Closer
 

Me and Snickers again.

I

Hi Steven
 

I was just in the middle of responding to your kind reply when I was preempted by a nasty thunderstorm that took the power out. Lost everything I wrote. ;C

So here goes again. I'm glad to hear that you're on your way back, I've thought of you often over in SARS country. From what I've read it appears that Taiwan has done a good job of protecting the population. Stay well.

I've made many of the changes already that you mentioned, the veins (I really like veins and muscles), softened the cheek and sweater, made the hair quieter, (it's not that bright) and done a lot of work on Snickers' fur. I have to let it dry now before I can do the last detail work. Snickers has long, long white whiskers. They will be fun.

I planned this time, had a photo shoot, planned what I would wear (to coordinate with Snicker's coloring) and planned the composition. All from what I have learned here. I love this site, it has been a godsend.

Me teach? Pity the poor student!

Thanks Steven.

Jean

You can't imagine how many are waiting, especially in a populated area like you're in. And if not you who can obviously do it, who else? Someone who can't?

And hey, might as well make a buck off your hard work.

You're very good, and you should be capitalizing on it.

My son and I are in the midst of the worst of SARS right now. Two hospitals (and part of another) quarantined. Draconian measures everywhere. The airport activity at a 24-year low.

I'm not worried, on a relative-risk scale. Just a few more weeks here and then gone. Trouble is, my son tapped into his new school's website (in Austin, Texas) to discover a school district alert that some Easter-traveling families had pneumonia and it was suspected SARS. Turns out it -- we're told -- wasn't. Might as well stay in Taipei for now.

Besides seconding all of Steven's comments, I'm seeing the hands as too large.

By the way, I can feel the weight and movement of the cat!

I'm also glad you created this interesting narrative instead of a self-portrait from that old studio photograph. Brava, that takes panache.

I'd briefly thought that, too, but the hands are in fact well in front of the figure, in perspective, so the effect could be, I thought, dealt with by minimizing edges and value changes that brought attention to those features.

If you put the heel of your hand on your chin, the tip of your index finger hits your hair line. Hands are pretty big! (We often visualize hands as the size of our palms, plus fingers. Fingers stick out there quite a ways.) [Correction: I misstated that measurement -- the distance from chin to hairline is instead the span from tip of the thumb to tip of the middle finger.]

Uh oh, does this mean my hairline is going the way of my brothers'?

In all seriousness, I guess that's the balance: what is absolutely correct and what is illusion. I think you might be right, simple corrections in modeling will fix the size illusion.

Hands!
 

Hi, I felt that way too, so stood in the mirror with a yardstick, posed like I was holding Snickers and measured the mirror image. I was surprised to see that it was accurate, so hoped that with more shading and rounding they would look more "normal". Also measured in relation to my head (felt pretty stupid there in the mirror). Also, with working on shadows on Snickers it may get better.

I'll post an update if I can get a good picture today. Its pretty stormy still.

Mari, thanks for the panache comment. I'm glad I didn't paint the other one too. This one has been great fun!

Jean

Updates
 

Getting there but still working on hair, hands, glasses and sweater.

Jean

Closer
 

Yesterday was our 9th wedding anniversary. This is Tom's present and the first time I've spent so much time looking at ME. What a strange sensation.

Jean

ps: Tom told me I have to spend as much time on me as I spend on Snickers.:sunnysmil

Off by a Hair(line)

By morning's light it dawned on me that I incorrectly stated Daniel Greene's method of estimating life-size heads. The measure he uses is the span from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the middle finger. So -- put the tip of the thumb on your chin, and the tip of the middle finger should just reach your hairline (or the place where it used to be). I didn't catch my misstatement because I have very large hands and the other-stated measure works for me as well (as the extended thumb is pretty close to perpendicular to the heel of the hand anyway).

The "correct" procedure will give you that extra half inch or so you may have been looking for. Apologies to anyone who went away earlier thinking that their hairlines had suddenly receded beyond the norm.

Long hands
 

I must have long hands cause it works both ways for me too. According to palmistry I have water hands, guess that's why I like to swim.

I've completed this portrait and posted it under Unveilings as "Snickers and Me". If there are any other suggestions, keep them coming!

Jean

Lovely painting
 

Hi Jean,

I'm writing this a first critique response. Please take me with salt, pepper, or anything else appropriate to beginners.

I think your painting is well accomplished. For my taste, the resolution of the size of your hands is second to the kind of light hitting the forms of your head-to-cat-to-hand, hand. What I am reading could be a symptom of backlit computer screens, but I think such strong work as yours would benefit from more play with an underlying ground color.

I think I would like to hear your initial response to such a suggestion before I go any further.

Sincerely, and very nice to meet your work,
Brian Koelz

Nice to meet you too
 

Hi Brian,

Can you explain what you mean by underlying ground color?

As an untrained artist I'm not familiar with many technical terms. Do you mean underpainting? I so, my next self imposed assignment is to use a complementary undercoat to create some tension and vibrancy in skin tones.

Jean

Ground color
 

Hi Jean,

What I meant by ground color is something like the color of the underpainting, but the term ground refers to the oil ground or "gesso" one uses to prime the surface to be painted. It looked to me like this painting is done from a white ground color. I could be wrong, in which case the relationships of the more superficial layers of paint don't seem to be reacting/relating to the ground or starting color. This could be from using exclusively opaque titanium white, but judging from what looks like a moderate to thin paint layer, I would bet that white sits underneath.

Once when I was visiting Rubens' house in Antwerp, I came to drool in front of an enormous painting posterity had left for us visitors in what Peter Paul had used as his studio. Only after a few minutes did I realize that the entire bottom four feet of the picture was achieved leaving something like 70% of the ground color exposed, a kind of very warm reddish-brown. This extraordinary painting had demonstrated for me the potential of ground color relationships (not to mention those multiplied by careful underpainting).

I think you would find a lot of pleasure working on a reddish ground and allowing your paint layers to vary in their opacity. You may want to try different oils such as linseed/stand mixed with damar varnish. There are also many prefab mixtures, and you may use one already to make the paint a smoother consistency. With this project identify pigments that are more transparent and couple their effect with a thinning-w/oil. You could consider this a kind of extended underpainting process, and then for those opaque layers, apply them as economically as possible. Also experiment with how they react to the thinning with oil treatment.

I hope this is helpful and clear as I am really such the beginner with technical writing. Please let me know of your further success.

Brian

Clear as a bell
 

Hi Brian. Now I understand! Yes, the ground was white in this case. Next time I'll use your suggestion, the reddish brown ground color. I'm always up for a new experiment.

The medium I used in this painting is a mix of cold-pressed linseed oil, turpenoid, and a small amount of venice turpentine. I mix it myself, tried Liquin and didn't like the smell, plus it dried too fast. I did try applying very thin layers of paint to the hands, face and hair in this one. And you are right about the titanium white, I use it exclusively. Should I pick up some zinc white for flesh and keep the titanium for highlights only?

Are you psychic? How could you be right on by looking at a less than perfect image on a computer screen? I'm impressed, thank you for taking the time to comment so succinctly. It is appreciated, as I consider this my school for right now.

Jean

Zinc
 

Hello Jean,

Please excuse the lull in response/dialogue, I've been having apartment issues.

Yes, I think you will find zinc white a very useful tool. Also think about using yellow where you might normally reaech for white. The zinc will enable you to mix a white pigment into whatever color and retain more of the chroma. As well as the white opaque/transparent distinction, you can use all of the pigments based upon their hospitality toward light. The distinction between the opacity of cadmium red, for instance, and the transparency of madder lake is immense and very useful. I recommend trying to build your painting using organic pigments and earth colors pushing the color relationships until you feel more comfortable with chromatically active painting. In other words, by using theories of color contrast and complementary colors, at the same time minimizing the occurrence of (unnatural) purely white light in your painting, the relative unity of the aforemnetioned palette will provide an excellent foundation for the rest of your painting practice (not to mention an historical one).

Such a pleasure,
Brian

Bonnard
 

Oh, and use Bonnard as a reference, he's amazing (as you probably already know)...

You assume too much
 

Hi Brian. My art history and study is very rusty, as my formal schooling was 30 years ago! I'm still reeling from discovering Bougereau and the simple beauty of his paintings. So, I did a search on Bonnard (I'm assuming you mean Pierre). His work is full of light, and quite lovely, and very different from what I'm doing. I know I'm still too exacting and tight, but I love a beautiful line, and try to incorporate line quality into my paintings. Maybe I get too hung up on it, or possibly now need to look at line and beautiful light!

I'll start experimenting with the transparent color more, and do some research. Your comments have pushed me to a different level and they are appreciated. Thank you. ;)

Jean

Beautiful!
 

This is a wonderful double portrait of you and your lucky kitty. I think we may benefit from admitting the center of attention is Snicker's head, and give that little nose a tad more red color and a moisture highlight for the final touch.

The center of attention
 

Here's my miracle kitty in all her glory.

Thanks Jeanine! Snicker's nose is quite a dark salmon, but I like your idea of adding some moisture. I had considered this painting complete, but I will pull it off the wall and do a little tweaking.

Jean

Pulled myself off the wall!
 

Hello again, All I could see was a chalky face, so decided to make some changes. I picked up zinc white, and a transparent, lovely, warm red (Old Holland napthol). I tried to find a particular Gamblin shade but could not find it in Madison. Anyway, I've started repainting my face and the difference is amazing. It may not be apparent from a photo, but in person it's starting to get that glow. Also changed my hair, it's more true to the actual color. I'm still working on the hands. Thank you Brian for being "picky". I've learned something good.

Jean