Portrait Artist Forum - Marina from life

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- - Marina from life (http://portraitartistforum.com/showthread.php?t=8704)

Mentoring: What is a role model?

Alexandra!

This is such a solid study! The likeness (from what I have seen of Marina in this forum) is fantastic and the way you have positioned her on the canvas in that classic L-shape echoes the elegance of the sitter. My attention is also called by the fact that the point of view is slightly below sitter

Thanks for the additional thought, Peter.

SB, that was a wonderful link. I'm going to pass it on to so many people I know. On the forum there are so many artists whom I consider to be role models in so many ways, personal as well as artistic. It's true, age doesn't matter.

Thank you, Carlos! Such nice words--I really appreciate what you say about placement. when I'm doing a life study I enjoy looking back and forth between the canvas and the model or a few minutes, imagining where to place the figure. Then I just make a stab at it. I would say I get it right about 80% of the time, and this amazes me when I think of how much planning I put into a large canvas. Just the act of doing this is, for me, one of the exciting parts of painting from life.

By the way, Marina is not only an exemplary model, but also an amazing teacher. Her workshop was extremely informative. It opened up all kinds of possibilities and ideas. I know my opinion is shared by the other artists who took her workshop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexandra Tyng

Peter, thank you. Yes, the eyes were definitely in the process of becoming. You can say that again! I am glad you see the positive in it. I also enjoy seeing that process, often slightly unfinished, in others' work but it is harder to appreciate in my own work. Not that I like everything highly finished. On the contrary, I like to see evidence of brush marks. But this was like taking a test and being told "time's up" when you could have easily answered the last couple of questions.

I think it's how you recognize a good work : you can leave it at any stage of the process ...

Carlos : I found that posing was not that hard ( at least for 3 hours) I'm a very quiet person, and don't care staying still. The most difficult is not moving the eyes, when there's very good painters around you doing live demos and you can't watch them !
I'll be in France this fall, I will not have a lot of free time, but it could be possible to organize some SOG european event ??? It would be a fantastic opportunity to meet you and some others !

I like the fact that despite the short time span, you managed to give equal importance to each part of the figure, including the shawl. Everything looks very convincing and reflects your energy and concentration
Ilaria.

Alex, i'm so glad you posted this painting - it has a wonderful sense of movement and grace. (And I'm so sorry to have missed the workshop and the gift of having Marina as a model!)

Thanks so much, Ilaria and Linda! Wish you both could have been there.

Alex,
I so enjoy looking at the results of your open studio, I'd whish that I could join you some day.

This is beautiful, so alive, fresh. You really have captured Marina! Like Allan, I wish I could have been with you all.

Allan and David, it would have been great to have both of you there. I often wish we were not so spread out geographically. Maybe, Allan, you will come to the PSA conference one of these years, then we can at least have a conversation in person if not actually paint together.