Nan, 20" x 24"
 

I feel a little bit embarrassed, posting two in a row, but I'm going to go ahead and do it! Just got these slides back and they turned out pretty well with a little photoshopping.

Let me explain about this portrait. It's really similar to a life study, except that I did it from several photographic references. My intent was to try to impart more of a feeling of movement in my portraits. So I set myself a time limit, in this case 3 hours. Actually it took me 3 1/2 from start to finish. I realized that, previous to this, I had gotten into a habit of pushing paint around too much and losing my spontenaeity, so I was very careful about sketching out the proportions of the head and face before picking up a paint brush. Voila! I got the likeness So quickly it amazed me! Plus I was able to keep my brushstrokes fresh. Once I got the head, I progressed to the rest of the painting. So in many ways it was an exercise as much as a likeness.

Alexandra,

I would like to see one every day - as long as you keep up that high quality. :thumbsup:

Is it family? It is such a relaxed and straight forward composition and wonderfully simple color scale.

Allan

Alexandra, your work takes my breath away. I love your soft colors, the relaxed pose of the woman, the 3D effect that lovely vase of flowers helps to give. Post any time!

Alexandra - luscious.

I so completely agree that careful thought up front makes things happen well- and faster.

Please don't hesitate to post.

Alexandra, this has wonderful edge variation and a lovely fluid brush quality - do you use a medium?

I also like the subdued color sense that shows up in the work you're posting on this Forum.

A gorgeous work Alexandra,

It reminds me of Morgan Weistlings' works. Great painting!

Allan, Julie, Chris and Linda,

Yikes, I am bowled over! Since I joined the forum I have seen some incredible work, and believe me you guys are doing it! So your opinions mean a great deal.

Allan, to answer your question about the woman in the portrait, she is not family, but a very dear friend whom we see in Maine in the summers. Her husband, who died several years ago, was an artist and teacher who believed in painting only from life, and Nan is fiercely loyal to that way of thinking. When I do drawings of the house and environs she loves them and puts them up on the wall. I've been wanting to paint her from life but she won't sit still long enough! (She has no electricity or running water, so she chops wood, fetches water from the lake, etc.) She says "maybe sometime you can paint me knitting," but I haven't caught her knitting lately. Except on a series of photos I took a couple of years ago. I finally decided to use them to create this challenge for myself, since in commisssioned work I often have no choice but to work from photos. I may bring this up to Maine and see what she thinks of it, though I'm not optimistic!

Linda, no I do not use a medium. It's just turpenoid (I'm allergic to regular solvents) and paint. I stopped using medium a while back because it made my edges too hard. Now I use more paint and I have a lot more control over the edges. I just clean my brushes off between colors, pat them on a paper towel, and there is usually enough turpenoid left in them to soften the paint. I forget why I started doing this. I guess I heard someone explaining why they no longer used medium and I thought "Hey, maybe that's my problem!"

Whoops, did not mean to exclude you, Claudemir! You must have posted while I was typing. Thanks so much! I'm not familiar with Morgan Weistling's work, so I'm going to go right now and see what I can find on the web.

Such a nice painting -- very fresh!

Watch out for that turpenoid stuff, though. You might want to read around and see what kind of archival effect it has on the paint.

Michele, thanks!

Hmmm, about the Turpenoid, I've been using it since regular solvent gave me respiratory problems. I knew that it wasn't necessarily great to be breathing just because it was odorless, but I didn't realize it was so unhealthy! And I was avoiding using the Turpenoid Natural because I heard it wasn't very good. I know there are some threads dealing with solvents so I will read them. Several of my friends swear by Gamsol. What do you use? Thanks for bringing it up. I'm always on the lookout for a better, less toxic solvent.

From what I've read, Turpenoid is just a brand name for odorless mineral spirits, though I'm not sure about that since Weber doesn't say what's in it. I won't use any solvent or medium where the manufacturer is vague about what it contains.

Gamsol is Gamblin's odorless mineral spirits and that's what I use. However, odorless (and this goes for Turpenoid too) doesn't mean non toxic. I always have a window wide open and a fan on a table next to it, blowing outwards, to clear the room of fumes and potentially explosive vapors.

One of the reasons I use Gamsol is that its "flash point" (the temperature at which it can spontaneously combust) is 145 degrees, instead of about 120 degrees for most other types of odorless mineral spirits.

Michele, I really appreciate your info on solvents, and I've read over the section on safety and hazardous materials, which was very informative. I think I will follow your lead and switch to Gamsol. This is beginning to sound like a commercial. But I'm serious, I am glad you pointed out the flash point because that is particularly worrisome in the summer. I think of all the times I left my painting things in the hot car!

Dear Alex,

I use Gamsol (when I use solvent); it's a superior solvent. It has good working properties, and is "odorless" because it evaporates so slowly. One can leave a small amount poured out and uncovered for weeks. It tends to just sit there and not fume up the place. Since it has good fluid working properties it will evaporate and dry when applied thinly. In consistency it behaves like turpentine but dries much slower, giving a much longer open time.

Most of the time I need no solvent for painting and cleaning brushes, because I use Walnut Oil. What could be safer and less toxic? On occasion I will use Gamsol, but most of the time the M. Graham Co. Walnut Oil is perfect. They make a nifty non-toxic Walnut Alkyd Medium too, which is well worth a tryout. Thanks Claudemir for the informative link below.

I once used Turpenoid Natural about six years ago, and it was a huge mistake. Its syrup-like consistency may keep your brushes from drying and freezing up, but it is no good as an additive to paint, as it won't allow it to dry.

By the way this is a compelling and powerful portrait! (I have seen it in life.)

Garth

Hi Alex,

Did you try walnut oil?
There's a topic here that will give some light on the subject.
http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?t=2761

Oh, I forgot about walnut oil! Probably because I didn't realize it was a solvent! Garth, I do remember you mentioning you used it. OK, now I'm going to read up about it. Thank you both.

Garth, see how long it took me to get good slides of this portrait! You saw it when I had just finished it.

Alex

Alexandra, I am a little slow to comment but I wanted to tell you that I am impressed by this painting. I especially love the simplicity of the composition, the way the flowers create depth, and your brush strokes must have been placed by angels.

Lisa, you made my day! Maybe there is an angelic part of my personality that I never knew about. And thanks so much for posting your comments. I don't think of them as "late."

Alex