Angels of Death - Progression Shots (Post 2 of 2)

While " Remembrance " was painted using the colors I actually observed from my life studies with the model, "Passage" required some more preparation in order to give it the dark and moody atmosphere I wanted. After doing a color study from the model and taking some photos, I set to work on the reference photos in Photoshop, modifying my temperature scheme entirely so that everything looked a bit darker, more blue, and melancholy. My studio lights are already on the cool side, but I wanted it to look like the figure was outside at twilight. She was posed on a green rug in my studio, and I was able to maintain the color from the rug in the final painting, while modifying it to look like grass. I also used some of my own reference photos from northern skies at sunset to cre… Read more »

Angels of Death - Progression Shots (Post 2 of 2)

Angels of Death - Progression Shots (Post 1 of 2)

For my artist friends and collectors alike - it's always fun to see how a painting develops from start to finish. I don't have a specific method that I use every time. Instead I rely on intuition and start a painting based on the subject matter, overall color temperature, and level of drawing difficulty. Regardless of the colors I choose to tone the canvas or to begin the painting, I always start with big shapes and the separation of light and shadow. Below I give you "Remembrance" from start to finish. 1. "Remembrance" was started with a light vine charcoal drawing on a white oil-primed linen panel (SourceTek). Knowing that I wanted the overall color temperature of the piece to warm and glowing (angelic, no less!), I used a thin wash of raw sienna (thinned wit… Read more »

Angels of Death - Progression Shots (Post 1 of 2)

Recent Painting Workshop - Photos & Video Clips

This past weekend I had my last major teaching gig for the season, leading a 2-day intensive portrait painting workshop at the Trinity Arts Guild in Bedford, TX. After this I will probably not be teaching again until the fall (thanks to Baby Bain arriving in May), and will instead be focusing exclusively on painting projects and commissions for the next few months. The workshop went well and I very much enjoyed the dozen or so attendees who came. We also had a couple of excellent models. Here are some photos from my morning demos, and a couple of short video clips that were taken. Enjoy! Day 1 (model: Gord Shriver): Read more »

Recent Painting Workshop - Photos & Video Clips