Angie demo

Tom Edgerton · 05-01-2006, 01:19 PM

This was a change of pace for me, and a very enjoyable one--painting from life without a net.

It's a demo I painted in a workshop I taught about a year ago. I didn't post it in Open Studio, as it was painted over the course of four days, in sessions of an hour more or less, first thing each morning.

The model was Angie, a local sculptor's wife. She was amazing. She had practiced meditation, and once she settled into the pose after breaks she'd become completely still and wouldn't move AT ALL, until the next break. But she appeared totally relaxed at the same time--I don't think a bomb going off would have fazed her.

Needless to say I was enamored, and would love to paint her again.

See you guys Thursday in Dallas. I'm really looking forward to it!

Alexandra Tyng · 05-01-2006, 09:48 PM

Tom, I'm so thrilled to see this! It has a completely different feel from your commissioned work and, as such, offers a fascinating glimpse of you, the artist, as well as the model. There's that strong repeated line in the shirt neckline, the jaw and even her lower lip. The look in her eye says volumes about something, I'm not sure what, but whatever it is it keeps me staring at it trying to figure out.

Chris Saper · 05-01-2006, 11:04 PM

Don't you just love the chance to work from life?

I always find (at this point) that my likeness is less but my spontaneity is so much more. Do you feel the same?

Tom Edgerton · 05-02-2006, 07:30 AM

Thanks, guys.

What I like about this process is that you can be interested in other things besides likeness, though in this case the likeness is there also. I asked myself what I was interested in apart from her personality, in a pure aesthetic sense, and found that it was the double pools of light on her head and chest, separated by the shadow across her (impossibly slender) neck. It made for some very interesting shapes.

I heard Burt Silverman once counsel that you need to have an artistic life apart from your commissions, and I want to make more opportunities for this type of exploration.

Best--TE

Sharon Knettell · 05-02-2006, 10:22 AM

Tom,

She has real presence and power. You can feel her inner life.

A beautiful piece, thank you for posting it.

Linda Brandon · 05-02-2006, 10:54 AM

Tom, this is really a very lovely head! So, tell us more about your process - did you wait for the paint to dry before starting again the next day, or was it all wet into wet?

Did you use a medium? How, in terms of process, did this differ from your photo work? Did you do a detailed drawing first (starting with line) or shadow forms?