Faye's Baby

What's fun about painting portraits?

There's a very long list of what's frustrating about painting portraits.  The first being that people don't expect to receive a painting of a cute baby, they expect it to look like THEIR cute baby.  That last phase of editing can be excruciating for me.  When I realized that I needed to scrape the paint off this little one's eyes and paint them a few millimeters lower, I wanted to cry.  But... it that's just part of the process.
(I think next I'll paint some nice autumn leaves... no one minds if a leaf vein is just a little off or a shape is just a little skewed when it's a leaf!)

But, back to the original question...What's the most fun? There's always a "Oh, there you are!" moment for me.  I'm just working along with colors, shapes, tones, and shades when all of a sudden... It's a little one with a personality looking back at me!  I love that moment!  Sometimes it happens when I put the little fleck of white sparkle in the eye.  Sometimes it's when the dimple is finally right or the highlight on the end of the nose is put on.  I usually have a "Well, hello there!" moment right then.

[SOLD]

Little Fella in a Big Fedora

How do colors and shapes come together to make eyes, nose, cheeks, chins, wrinkles, and folds? 

Here's how I do it - one step at a time.  The hardest part is having faith - knowing that the "ugly stage" is normal and necessary - believing that it will come back together in the end.

Amelia*

How do you capture the person, not just the physical likeness?


How sweet is this little one!
Some parts of this painting came so easily for me.
For one, I learned that I love painting with purple - so uncomplicated!.  Just add white as needed... how simple!
Second, I learned that it's the imperfections that add to - not detract from - the story I want to paint... little wisps of hair sticking out here and there, a collar rolled over...


When I was given this commission, I had one overarching desire.  That was to honor who she was without emphasizing what she had.  The physical characteristics which are indicators of Downs Syndrome were a part of her, but they did not define her.  I so wanted to honor this little one through my humble brush strokes... a beautiful, sweet, happy child.

'[SOLD]

Amy

How do you paint shades of red?


This was really my first attempt at red, and it was frustrating.  Adding white makes pink... not a lighter shade of red... hmmm... I learned that a light orange helped with the lights adding some purple helped with the darks.


And, then back to the paint recipe for flesh... Well, obviously what worked for Abby and for Tanner didn't work for Amy.  The other thing that was a huge lesson for me on these three paintings was having to study the differences in facial features.  Noticing is half the work.  On my very first painting lesson on February 22, 2007, my teacher said, "I want to teach you to see in a different way."  I love seeing things through a painter's eyes.

Abby

What color is flesh?


I was astounded to learn the "recipe" for flesh.  I know now that there are many, but the one that I started with was: 
yellow-green + red-orange + white.
I would have never come up with that on my own, but it works!








FYI... this little one grew up to be my "Blow on It!" girl.  See that post from July 8, 2010.

Visit an Etsy treasury (collection of art pieces) celebrating Children and Summer where she's featured.

"Blow on It!" can be purchased in several forms. 

8" x 10" giclee

8" x 10 print on fine art paper

8" x 10 print on photo paper

and can be put on any size upon request