New Year - 2014

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Planes of the Head via the "Asaro" model

Belated Happy New Year 2014. I have been preoccupied with preparing and planning my new portrait drawing & painting course at the WSA (Woodstock School of Art) and am happy to report that it is going well - we have had two classes so far, first one on the "planes of the head" with a diagrammatic model  (as above), and last week the emphasis was on proportion - this time with a live model. I am very pleased with the students and their progress so far, and they seem to be pleased with me so that's all good. I will document their progress and post a few examples here anon.

Also all painting sessions are back in full swing - those are the independent painting group on Wednesday mornings and the Open Studio (both at WSA) on Thursday mornings - the sketch below is from the latter.

One-minute warm-up sketches

Phillis Kelly aka The Reggae Singer, 24x24", 2014 - Right: photo of Phillis - note, the photo was only used at the very end stage of the painting when Phillis was no longer available.

And I completed my painting of Phillis - the above photo is actually one or two steps before the finalization of the painting  - edges have been softened and the dress color pushed back. And the colors in the painting higher key that reality. Plus the color in the photo is off compared to the colors in the studio. The portrait was painted 90% from life but I had to complete it from photos which was a drag as photographs flatten so much - the cheekbone are not at all prominent in the photo, but I decided to stick with what I saw with my own eye-balls in the studio and not modify it according to the photo. I very much hope I can make a stop-motion video of the making of this painting - it has been the most challenging so far. Well, that's enough for now - goodnight Phan.