Five-hour figurative pose
 

This was my painting from our five-hour open session today. I should probably title this a work-in-progress, since one of my friends loaned me his camera and I took a photo of the model; I doubt I will be able to resist correcting a few things. (I especially need to straighten out the background stripe on the left.) (This is a pretty bad photo, full of glare. I used a ton of paint on this painting today.)

He was leaning on a pickax, by the way.
[Edit: Such a horrible photo! I shot this in my garage, so it serves me right. I posted a more accurate photo later on in this thread.]

Linda! Schweet !! Strongly painted, solid, well worth the "ton" you used! (no one ever got rich by saving on paint!) What size is it?
I envy your five-hour session. I want to see this when it's "finished" (which shouldn't take very much at all).
Question, what steps do you take compositionally in these "from the hip" sessions? (I really battle with this)

Richard, you've hit the nail on the head regarding a figurative pose. I spent at least 30 minutes at the very beginning, measuring and plotting the best way to crop this figure without losing the elbow or glove and yet size the head large enough to get some detail in it. It's 22" x 18" and I really wish I had brought along a larger canvas. I'm kicking myself.

I also had to eliminate tangents and awkward points of overlap and intersection - which is hard to do in a crowded group situation, but if I take a step a few inches one way or another it usually solves my problem. Composition is really important to me on paintings like this one, which isn't so much about rendering than it is about 'drama'. Incidentally, I put a big boom spotlight directly over the model's head and I really liked the way the shadows developed.

Thank you for taking the time to comment, Richard. :)

Wow! Linda! This is amazing. To borrow one of your quotes, you "really know how to paint men." I love the muscle-T, sweatband, and gloves. The angle of the light is very effective--it evokes midday sun, which reminds one of taking a break from hard work. Youve got the feeling there. GREAT work.

Linda, what a painting! I mean painting as opposed to a portrait and its background!
I love tthe lilac/yellow scheme, with the two colours chasing each other around all of the canvas.
If you work some more on it, just don't look at the photo: it's wonderful and fresh and you are at risk of loosing the whole just to go after a detail!
Ilaria

Linda, this is awesome! This is ready for a frame as it is. Sure you can refine this or that but why? Maybe just adjust a edge here or there will be just the thing. For a canvas this size the unfinished look will hold the charm. Don't you think?

Linda,
this is great, the figure and light is so believable, frame it !

Dear Linda,

Powerful, emotional amd dripping with mood. It is GORGEOUS. Please ssssssssssssssssssssstop.




Love chris

Alex - you know, I have been dying to do this subject matter since I saw your mega-prize-winning painting of the plasterers on the table. I blame you for this. (Thanks for the nice comments!)

Ilaria - if anybody would have noticed those yellow/lilac complementary splotches, it would be you, with your keen eye for color. Thank you so much for the comments. I've ruined paintings in the past by tweaking around after a life session, so I'll be careful - just a couple of corrections to the head and bicep, I think.

Mischa - you have such a keen eye - thank you and I will be careful.

Allan - I know you are also a fan of dramatic light situations. I am so happy you like this one, thank you for saying so!

Chris - Oh - you are too funny. The mood is, "I have painted too many children and beautiful sleepy young women in a row and I am really ready to paint a guy with a pickax." I really wanted to paint a dramatic pose. Just a teensy weensie bit more fiddling, I pppppppromise.

Well, now. Good goin' kid!

--TE

Gee Linda,

You know how to paint a slinky man. Wowsa!

Leave it, it is is dripping with sensuality, luscious color and paint.

Hire the guy, in March, when I am there to give you support.

Not a bad idea. Count me in.

Well, fortunately I will be there too, as it is clear that someone will have to keep you all from letting things get out of hand. :thumbsup:

Tom - thank you!

Aunt Sharon, you are a menace to society and a threat to the serious, contempletive world of Fine Art. Not only that, but I always get into trouble hanging around you.

Alright, I worked on the head a little bit today and at least took a better photo of the painting. Ilaria, I took your advice and didn't rely all that much on the photo reference, which is not very good anyway.

Linda your work is so juicy and always a pleasure to view. I can't even get a background done in that time. Well Done!

Linda, thanks for the better photo. It's SUCH a dynamic painting!

Linda,

This is a killer painting.

I went out yesterday and bought myself a pickax and a bandanna. After leaning on it for a couple of hours, and receiving NO cat calls, I packed it in. Maybe there's more to it ...

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Ngaire - so nice to see you here again. You could get a background done fast, just use a big brush. (Also - well, you know this already of course - squint at the subject a lot, paint the big shapes and planes first and get them accurate. It's easy to get distracted by detail when painting; squinting helps see the big shapes and values.)

Anyway, it doesn't matter how fast an artist paints, what's important is the final product. Personally, I usually paint way too fast and then I have to go back and correct my mistakes. It's surely a bad habit to paint fast. (I draw - charcoal, graphite, etc. - much more slowly than I paint, by the way, unless I am just goofing around.)

Mike - you wouldn't have lasted long in that getup if you had been here. We would have grabbed you as a model.

Alex - thanks again!

Marina - I'm taking that as a compliment. :)

Here's the painting again and I'm calling it done. (That yellow is Studio Products Gamboge, incidentally, a real powerhouse of a color.)

Yep, done. Yep, killer painting. You are my hero@@!

Linda--
What a striking painting --- that is simply gorgeous!

Just a terrific finale!

Perfect "added focus" from the first pic. Good on ya, Linda!

This is too good! :thumbsup:

Dianne

Chris, Terri, Sharon, Richard and Dianne,
You are all so encouraging and kind to post these comments, thank you so much.

Great painting -- don't know how I missed this one earlier. I love the arms, in particular.

You are too funny ... you had enough of painting little kids and sleepy women and just had to paint a guy with a pickaxe....!

Bring him to Birmingham and we'll all have a go painting him. He'd enjoy being fawned over by 100 or so women, I imagine.

Thanks, Michele! I just found out that this painting (I titled it "Man With Pickax") got into the Greenhouse Gallery Salon International 2007 show in Texas.

Linda, that is WONDERFUL! Congratulations!

Where have I been? Linda this is a great painting and congratulations to you for getting into the show.

Linda! I gotta check in more often. This painting is an absolute jaw-dropper for me.

When is the Texas show?

(Sorry Gary, I just spotted this, thanks for asking... ). The show starts May 19th in San Antonio.

Linda, just look at how many responses you got to this thread. This is a winner in the making. I'm crossing my fingers.

Linda,

Great news! Show 'em how we women paint when we are inspired!

:)
Well, the Oeuvre of Moi isn't necessarily enriched by paintings that don't actually sell. I'm not sure this is a reliably marketable genre. You should all stop encouraging me. :)

Oh what the hell!
 

It is impossible to ever figure out what is indeed marketable, let alone prize winning unless of course you are a Kinkade and get so rich you can do other things with your hands.

Years ago I heard a talk by Alan Stone, of the well known Alan Stone Gallery in NY. He said that the marketplace is the worst judge of art. I think we have all seen that to be true.

What DOES the public want? Do they want to be challenged, enlightened, inspired, pacified, soothed by something pleasant and non-threatening or do they really only want something to go with their drapes. Many years ago, when I was a very young artiste, I was wandering through some of the fancy galleries in NY. At one neo-impressionist gallery where the prices were in the stratosphere I was shocked at the gallery flunkie, who kept valiantly trotting out painting after painting to match a customers drapery sample. I was really demoralized.

Let the public catch up with you.

I think have to keel over first, THEN we get discovered. :o

Linda, that is one HOT painting.

Just in case, I'll send chocolates to the judges! Let us know as soon as you know!

I cant think of anything that shouldn't make this a winner! It is simply gorgeous!

Here's my news about this painting: it took an Honorable Mention and a Jury Top Fifty award. Click on this link to Greenhouse Gallery to see more winners, including a couple of Kim Dow's paintings (go, Kim!). So many good paintings by terrific artists are on those walls, I am excited to have one of my own up there, too.

(Edit: I just spotted this - Forum partcipant Jonathan Hardesty won an award for his still life, congratulations Jonathan!)

I probably wouldn't have entered this painting without the encouragement of these posts on the Forum and so ... very sincerely... thank you all again.

Congratulations -- It's a great painting!