Oil Portrait

[UnRuli]

I wanted a second piece to submit to a figure show so I quickly painted this piece to go along with another piece I already had on hand.  It's not very big (only 12" x 6") and although the initial painting didn't take long (about 5 hours - most of that mixing paint) the glazing afterward took a bit of time (though that was mostly dry time in between glaze coats).  

The painting is from an image I took of one of my instructors.  He's a terrible person to get a picture of (HATES having his photo taken) but he was up on the stage doing a talk on his artwork and I managed to get a couple good reference photos.  When this show came up I KNEW I wanted to do a painting of one of those images.  I didn't tell him about the photo or the painting until I had it about halfway complete.  I worked on it in my studio and brought it down to his classroom because if I was going to submit it I needed his permission.  He was so pleased he cried.

The colors in the original photo are nowhere NEAR the colors I used (it was very blue and green.....I warmed it up a LOT) and so it was a very good exercise for me.  The entire painting (glazes and all) took less than a week and only about 7 hours of actual painting time.  I think this is the fastest I've ever completed a painting.  It didn't get in to the show (I figured it wouldn't because it's really not "contemporary" enough) but I'm fine with that.  I'm just thrilled with it and now that it's all framed it looks FANTABULOUS!

detail of face and hands:
 

Full image:

[kerri_mac]

It's a beautiful painting.  Nice and loose but you can see the detail of the fingers and face also.  Great expression in the face.

[BeaG]

A great painting!
You definately have talent.

[LimeRiot]

This is such a wonderful piece. I feel like I know your instructor just by looking at your painting. It's filled with personality. Fantastic job!

[maxxev]

a beautiful painting! im not surprised he was thrilled!

[UnRuli]

Thanks guys!  I feel like I'm finally starting to figure out how to use my paint effectively.

[Javanna]

incredible I love it. I should really spend more time with painting. can't wait to see more!