Back to Painting

After a bit of a too long break from my recent portrait undertaking, about 5 weeks or so, I got back to it.


It still has a ways to go, but it is getting there.

Worked again in the face today, some of the hair, neck, and began establishing the sweater (which will be Hard as hell).

Hopefully over the Christmas holiday time, I can get about 12-15 hours into it.

Portrait Painting Progress

Still a bloody long way to go, but am ramping up weekend painting, putting that is a priority the next 6 months or so.

More progress on the portrait of my daughter last weekend. Will get 3 or so hours again in this weekend.

Since I sit cross legged on the floor, it's hard on my legs and feet, sending them to sleep, which feels horrid waking them up every 20 mins or so.

Some corrections will need to be made as this goes along, and the background in the end will need an assessment, mainly for it being less saturated than the figure, grey back a bit and more atmospheric.

I bought my husband the wrong brushes one day, on a brush buying errand at Curry's which is a walk from my work, but they work awesome for my painting needs, so it worked out. Luckily, because they were expensive.

I accidentally painted on the wall, which won't matter, since I've had the dark burgundy paint since last year, to paint it with, and will do that once Winter comes. White and light walls are not my thing lol!

Some Painting Progress - Beginning the Face

Got in some painting over the Christmas holiday days. Not a ton but began establishing the darks and lights in the face. I did go a bit further in the face, at this early stage, than was planned, but am happy with its beginnings.

Still the painting has a lot of the look of an under painting, but with a year and a bit to work on it still, it will go through a lot of transformation.

More Portrait Progress

Had 2 days holidays left from this year's work holidays that I get. Got some painting in on my portrait on the one day, and am going to see the Turner show at the AGO the 2nd day, with my Dad and my hubby. Should be nice, I have not been to the Art Gallery in Toronto for a few years.

I bought a really nice size wide size 10 filbert brush at Curry's and I am happy to say I chose right! It is really working well for rubbing and blending my soft layered background shapes. So, I made some progress, albeit a small amount, in my background. I also widened her arm on our left, her right.

There is quite a long ways to go but so far I feel confident it will work out in the end to my liking, hopefully.

my palette laid out, ready to begin

Portrait Painting Progress

The last couple of weekends, I have gotten in 5 - 6 hours on my personal portrait of my daughter. It's slow going but I feel happy painting again.

There are some issues with the arm on viewer left, which I will need to solve still.

The biggest obstacle I am facing is I do not really have a work space, a studio space if you will. I have been basically sitting on the floor but this does not allow for comfort, sitting cross legged on my pillow on the floor of the living room. I don't have the painting up high enough to work on the bottom of it. To sit at my drafting table, I would need to angle my board at such an angle that I cannot put my paints, my plate that I use for a palette, nor my mug that I have water in to rinse brushes. I used to have wire coat hangers bent in a way that I could hang my canvas off them from the top edge of my board, but I'm unsure where they are since having moved a few years ago. New ones would need to be made.

In any event, it so far is going ok. Background will be what I work on for a while. Though, always, I stray.

Sometimes a colour I mix for one area, intended for a different part of the painting all together I end up by instinct using it in the skin, and it tends to always work. I feel that this happens, especially with neutrals, because we tend to Think we know what pigments should work to mix skin tones and hone in on those, when really, skin tones have way more neutrals in them than we think. Therefore, when Not intending the colour I mix to be for the body, I end up mixing something that just Works. But I know I do this, from so many portraits in the past, so I in a way now lead myself down this same very path every time intentionally :-) Mix my background colours and neutrals, mix my hair neutrals, and voila, use them in the skin too.

The canvas I used to buy, from Curry's, I could no longer find after a while, one where I could rub such a soft layering of velvety dry brush blending with colour over colour. This canvas I can purchase now does not have quite that finish on it so I've had to adapt to the difference.

It will be a long go, probably over a year, but I am happy so far with the beginning progress stage.

Beginning Stages of Portrait Drawing on Canvas

Well, not the most ideal of work space set ups but it works. Began the drawing of my daughter onto the toned canvas last weekend and will be continuing it today. It should take about 3 to 4 Saturdays to draw it on. I can only sit for a couple hours, cross legged on the floor, holding my tablet with the gridded reference image in my left hand, drawing with my right with a 3b pencil, so it'll be some time before it gets done. Once done, I will need to work out how I'm going to get this canvas at the right angle at my drafting board, to paint, as I cannot lay it flat, it's too large. The whole drafting table will need to be angled up, therefore I will not be able to put my palette, reference images, water, and paints on it. I will need to make hangers for it again too, something I had years ago, out of old coat hangers, to hang the canvas from the top of the drafting board edge, so that I can sit in front of it to paint. The things one will go through lol!

 the progress as of Sunday Oct 11