Filigree - Self Portrait

'Filigree' 

5 x 7 inches, oil on panel

I'm part of a small group of artists that have banded together as a sort of peer mentoring group. We talk about our goals, our vision for our work, share business ideas, and challenge each other. It's full of awesomeness. These women are incredible and I'm so honored to be part of their group. :) 

So we had a painting challenge. It was to paint a self portrait that was a true reflection of you. I kind of suck at that. I've painted myself before, and every time it has been a very uncomfortable experience for me. I don't like looking at myself. I hate drawing attention to myself. In a crowd or group of people I prefer to hide, unseen and unnoticed. 

And a self portrait is basically the opposite of all of those things. It's all about ME. I mean, there's really nowhere else to look. Unless you like grey backgrounds, and if you do then. . . awesome.You've come to the right place. But, I digress.

My way around this is to typically hide part of my face in some way. Like the filigree mask above, or like this: 

Or like this:

So how then, was I to paint a self portrait that was a true representation of myself? I did what I felt most comfortable with. A partially hidden version of me. Again. Because I do think this is really how I am. I could go on and try to think of something really meaningful to say about why I paint myself this way. But I won't.

Because there is no real deep meaning to it. I just prefer to be in the background, instead of the spotlight and that alone says SO much about who I really am that there really isn't anything else to say.

Ambiguity in Red

'Ambiguity in Red' 

8 x 10 inches oil on gesso board

I think it's pretty clear that I have a thing for red/pink. I was at home by myself one day and the sun was in that perfect spot in my kitchen and I just so happened to be wearing a bright pink sweater. So naturally I sat in that spot of sun and took a picture of myself to paint. This is painted on purchased gesso board, not the masonite that I usually use and gesso myself. It was a challenge to get used to the super smooth surface at first. But I did find there was a lot more opportunity to use transparent colors with this surface, than the masonite, and I really loved that. The brightest areas are really thin glazes of oil color that I laid in at first as a block in but then decided to leave. 

Listening to: Writing Excuses podcasts (after a nearly two year block I finally feel like writing fiction again!)
Reading: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Watching: The Colony
Snacking on: nothing :( In an attempt to run longer distances this summer I'm trying out an anti-inflammatory diet to see if it helps my knees, and apparently sugar is like totally bad for your health. Which means no cupcakes for me. :(((

Before Sunset

'Before Sunset' 

5" x 7" oil on masonite panel

$100 plus $7 US shipping or $20 International

“Now she’s lit by the warm orange spreading from the horizon as not-quite-day, becomes not-quite-night”
― David Levithan, Every Day

It seemed like every quote I looked for about sunset was either about death or love lost. Not exactly what I was looking for. I've always loved sunset, but not as much as sunrise. Maybe it is because sunset seems to mean the end where sunrise marks the beginning. 

This is my favorite oil painting to date. :) I feel like I can say that since I mention my struggles with oils oh-so-frequently. :D 

Reference photo by Kelsey's Love Fusion, thank you! 

A note to my International buyers: As of January 27 USPS shipping rates have raised dramatically for International shipping and so I had to raise my  shipping prices as well. But, if once I ship your package, it ends up being much less than what I've stated as the fee, I'll refund you the difference. Thank you so much for understanding! If you have any questions about this feel free to email me.

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust - sold

'Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust'  sold

6" x 7" colored pencil on paper

Well I finally did it. I managed to capture a fairy just long enough to draw her portrait. :) She was pretty happy with it, happy enough to leave me with my own personal stash of pixie dust that should last until my retirement. Pretty sweet deal for a simple portrait don't you think? ;)

 

I believe in fairies. :))) *clap clap* Do you?

 

"Tink was not all bad: or rather, she was all bad just now, but, on the other hand, sometimes she was all good. Fairies have to be one thing or the other, because being so small they unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time. They are, however, allowed to change, only it must be a complete change."  J.M. Barrie

 

Huzzah :)

Photo reference by the awesome Katlinn Lewis, thank you!

Of portrait drawings and pirates. . . savvy?

'Kat'

graphite portrait study

not available

 

Earlier this year I got to work with this beautiful model. I have lots and lots of paintings planned. :) So many that I kind of get overwhelmed at all the choices in front of me you know? But that's a good problem to have I think. Don't you?

 

I really enjoy drawing faces with glasses or earings because they act as sort of a built-in grid. And they're fun too.

 

In other news, did you know a very important holiday is coming up? That's right. It's one of my favorites. National Talk Like A Pirate Day. :) On Sunday Sept. 16. To help you land lubbers prepare for this important day I'm providing this very helpful tutorial on pirate speak:

 

 

If you have young kids you've probably heard it a time or two. :)

And Talk Like a Pirate Day just wouldn't be complete without some sort of a tribute to the best pirate ever. THE Captain Jack Sparrow:



Heh heh. Best Pirate ever. :))

See you next week everyone! Savvy love? ;)

She Stood in the Storm - sold

'She Stood in the Storm'  sold

7" x 10" watercolor

"She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her away, she adjusted her sails." Elizabeth Edwards

Sometimes I feel like this. Alone on a cliff top just waiting for one more gust of wind to push me over the edge. That's when I pray, and then help comes, and I can adjust my sails and carry on.

"Sometimes God calms the storm. Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child."

He is there for us. Always. So. . . Rage on storm. Rage on.


Reference photo by Tracy76stock on deviantart, thank you!

Ginger

'Ginger'

6" x 6" oil on masonite panel

click here to buy now

This is the last of my oil paintings for now. I've enjoyed painting with oils this last week, but I'm very ready to head back to my watercolors. It's like being on vacation for a long time. It's fun, but eating out every day and sleeping in hotel rooms gets old pretty fast. You start to miss home. :)

Watercolors are my home. Vacation's over and I'm feeling a little homesick. I think a portrait in watercolor is in order straight away! ;)

Reference photo by Reine Haru on deviantart, thank you!

Esoteric - sold

'Esoteric'

6" x 6" oil on masonite panel

SOLD

Something that I find really difficult with oil, or even acrylics, is achieving bright colors. I'm used to exploiting that white paper to get a glowing look and well. . . I can't really do that with oils.

But, I do really enjoy the process of painting with oils. I like how much easier it is to build up the portrait when painting alla prima. There's no layers and waiting for paint to dry it's just go, go, go. A lot like sketching that way which is probably why I like it so much. :)

I really loved this model's hair and those dappled trees behind her. And such Pretty light!

Photo reference by BelleDameSansMerci on deviant art, thank you! 

Sliced - sold

'Sliced' sold

2.5" x 3.5" ACEO colored pencil

click here to purchase

Decided to try something a little different this time. A smaller size (holy cow was that tricky!!), a different point of view, and a bit of an edgy feel to this portrait.

I kinda like the results. Although I don't know how often I will do these itty bitty pieces (do you have any idea how difficult it is to draw a face that small?) but it was fun, so I guess that means I will have to try these ACEO's again. One day. :)

This was last week's Daily Paintworks challenge, paint a miniature. And honestly I had no idea how hard it would be when I attempted it, or I probably would not have.

It seems to betray all logic that something so small was so blasted difficult doesn't it?

Yep. I thought so too. Have a good weekend everyone! Huzzah!

reference photo by Kelsey's love fusion on flickr, thank you!

Raven - sold

'Raven'

5" x 5" watercolor

Sold

Sometimes I tell myself that I need to have these big, grand ideas for paintings with meaning and substance that will change society and make an impact with all who sees it.

But I only tell myself that maybe once a decade or so. :) The rest of the time I am happy to paint what I'm drawn to, whether that's a particular look that a model has, or the shape of their face, or as in this case the color of their hair. I've never painted blue hair before. It was fun. :)

And every time I see a woman with blue hair (which is really not all that often. . . surprisingly) I always think of Karou from Laini Taylor's book (and my top favorite three books of all time) 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone.'

“Karou wished she could be the kind of girl who was complete unto herself, comfortable in solitude, serene. But she wasn't. She was lonely, and she feared the missingness within her as if it might expand and...cancel her. She craved a presence beside her, solid. Fingertips light at the nape of her neck and a voice meeting hers in the dark."

reference photo by psylight on Deviant Art

Until Saturday my friends! :) Huzzah!

Vintage Lady - sketchbook Saturday

 

prismacolor in my sketchbook

from a vintage black and white photo

This sketch is actually from a few months ago and I already posted it to my facebook fan page but realized I never posted it over here.

If you look close at her nose you can see that initially I had it totally in the wrong place, but kept drawing anyway, even though you can stilll see my goof. :) For sketching I think it's really important to not worry about mistakes, but to just get your initial impression down as quick as you can. I think it really helps to record the first impulse you feel for your subject. Any one else have any thoughts about that?


Happy weekend all! Huzzah!

Reference photo by Ky Olsen

Lashes Sketchbook Saturday and some Huzzahs

I started this little sketch in the car (I swear I do my best sketching there, it's almost like I can't sketch anywhere else!) yesterday, trying to be quick and expressive. I never erase these sketches in my sketchbook either, what you see is exactly what I lay down the first time I touch pencil to paper, which perhaps explains why they aren't exactly perfect, but I like that.

By the time I had to stop drawing in the car I had finished her face and just barely laid in a few strokes to suggest her hair.I should have left it as it was. I came home and filled in the rest of her hair and I wished I hadn't. I really think it would have been better to just keep my initial impression of her instead of filling in every last detail.

A good lesson to learn to translate to my paintings I think. Stick with my initial impressions! Don't go back in and over work! Something I say over and over again when I teach workshops. Ah well, lesson learned. :)

Happy Saturday all! :)

Huzzah!

Had a question from LW Roth who asked me what I mean by shouting Huzzah all the time, I wrote a blog post about it some time ago, but here in a nutshell is what it means:

 

Huzzah

huz·zah also huz·za (h-zä)

interj. n.

Used to express joy, encouragement, or triumph.

1. A shout of "huzzah."

2. A cheer.

 

There you have it, and so I leave you with yet another. . .  Huzzah!! :)

 

 

Penumbra

'Penumbra'

6" x 6" watercolor
$100 plus $7 shipping

I love shadows. I love the contrast between the darkest darks and lightest lights. It's why I so often paint a face in full sunlight, letting the light side be practically overexposed.

 I like leaving some of that information blank, because so much of what makes a face look like a face when in sunlight is what's revealed in the shadows.

And of course colors in skin tones are quite simply bea-U-ti-ful in shadowed areas.

One of my favorite things to do is to paint a simple face, with a simple pattern of lights and darks, with some basic, simple primary colors.

I'm kind of a simple girl I guess. :)))

Huzzah my peeps!

Passing Interest

Passing Interest

7" x 9" watercolor

Some of you will remember that last year around this time I had a contest where I gave away one watercolor portrait. And here is the finished painting. :)

The winner of the contest lives in Utah so we were able to get together so I could take the kind of reference photos I like to work from.

I took my model to a place that looked like a harmless office building with lots of grassy areas lit with gorgeous light from the sun that had just started to set. And no people or pets within sight, which is what I saw at every single park I looked at before I found this perfectly deserted spot.

I start taking pictures, giving very vague and not-too-helpful hints for my poor model to look "that way" while I point somewhere to the north-south-westish, "somewhat mysteriously", "like you're an international woman of intrigue",  and repeatedly "stop laughing at me!" (I need some work on my model directing skills.)

When all of a sudden a security guard (complete with darkened sunglasses) walks out. Thus begins my tale of how I narrowly escaped Serious Trouble With The Government:

Security Guard: "DON'T take pictures of the building."

Me: *blinks* "Ooooh-kay."

Because obviously that's what I was doing. This woman posing for me was all a ruse so I could take pictures of this fantastically secret, but very well protected building. MWA HA HA!

Model:  *barely contained laughter*

Me: *gives model a pleading look that says "Dude, do NOT mock the security guard!"*

Security Guard: *crosses arms over chest while giving me the evil eye*

Me: *smiling innocently* "I wasn't taking pictures of the building, just her," I say, pointing to the model who's trying to supress yet more laughter.

Security Guard: *more evil eye directed at me*

Me:  *gives security guard feigned look of shock after looking down at my camera (I should totally be an actress)*

"And would you look at that! I got all the photos I needed so we'll, um, *swallow* just be going now," I say. 

Me and Model: *start backing away from the security guard in a calm, non-guilty way for about five seconds before turning around and speed walking to my car*

Luckily we both escaped with our lives, our freedom, and my camera. :) The moral of this story? Don't take your model to a building, or area, that you think is just an office building but might be an undisclosed government location.

Unless you like getting hit with the evil eye by burly security guards.  Or worse.

That's all I'm gonna say.

Hopefully government officials are not reading this blog. . .

*It should also be noted that this model is beautiful and she was a joy to work with. She took my direction to look "somewhat mysterious to the north-south-westish" very well. :))))

Upcoming Events: I will be teaching a one day watercolor portrait class on October 15 for the Syracuse Arts Guild in Syracuse, Utah. click here for details or email me with questions at crystal@crystalcookart.com