June 2022: Three different portraits

A key project for me was completing my self portrait by early June, so it would be dry enough to submit to Art Center Ukiah’s July show. I wanted to do a fairly classical portrait, and ended up going very dark on background in order to let the face come forward.
At the same time, I was working on another portrait of Tori, from a photo in which she was simply part of a larger composition. This ended up expressing itself with a looseness I have only achieved with the mixed media portraits, and I am very pleased with it.
So I started the portrait of my husband, Stuart, in a classical mode, but the dark background just wasn’t working for me. It took a while to figure out how to get a looser feel, and fortunately an old photo of him in the Fantasy Records vault provided the key to a loosely brushed background.

May: going to the dogs

I was again a volunteer artist drawing pet portraits for the Humane Society for Inland Mendocino County’s April fundraiser. They collect donations and pet photos, and we select which pets we want to draw or paint.
I ended up doing dogs, even though I love my cats. After the third portrait I realized why: doggies wear their hearts on their faces, which is the essence of what I try to capture in my human portraits!

April: La Parisienne

I was really excited to get permission from Flickr photographer Fabrice Chaput to paint from this photograph of a performer at a winter show. It was going to be challenging to capture her beauty along with the detail of the hat, fur, and scarf. I am very pleased with the outcome.

La Parisienne, along with Inna’s Mom and Gary, wlll be exhibited at the Mendocino College annual Student Art Show from late April through mid-May, with a reception on Wednesday, May 4.