Past People Portraits

Allison

Ages ago a sweet woman named Patty gave me oodles and oodles of vintage photos...such a generous gift for this people painting-loving artist.   I have used them many times as inspiration for my paintings and lately I have been experimenting with these small 5 x 5 inch portraits.  

Picking names can be a challenge at times because most of the photos do not have the people's names on them.  For the portraits in this post I have been naming them after several young ballet dancers who were listed in a ballet program for Alice in Wonderland, which took place over the summer at a nearby park.  I pick a name that seems to fit best with the face in the painting.  I am running out of names, so it is probably time to attend another ballet.  

Grace

Julia

Caroline

Alexis

Abigail
(sold)

Emily

Nadia

Clara and Miranda

I started a new job that is keeping me pretty busy these days.  Not as much time to paint as I would like, but I do make time.  So until next time!

♥ Lisa

Rosa

Rosa
9 x 12" acrylic and gold leaf on canvas paper
mounted to panel
available on Etsy

One evening I was looking at an art book on Balthus (thank you Lynne Hoppe for telling me about him) and I saw this image.  I really wanted to try painting a figure in a very open space and this was the result. It was tempting to keep adding layers, but there was something so pleasing about her face I was afraid to go on...afraid to ruin it.

Rosa
scanned version

This was a difficult one to photograph...all the dark colors seem to just pull in light which made the background look brighter and more blotchy than it actually is.  I was able to capture the truest color by scanning it, but our scanner is not large enough to get the entire painting, plus scanning made her face more blurry. 

And did you know that "Rosa" means pink in Italian?  I am half Italian...my great grandparents were from Sicily, so this interests me. 

Hope all is well with you.  See you soon!  

Small Portraits in Oil

Quiet Manner

oil on 5 x 7 inch paper

available on Etsy

As I have mentioned before, I love working with oil on paper.  These are all 5 x 7" with no border...I painted them laying flat.  I used 140 lb paper which holds up nicely to the oil.  The only thing I don't care for is that they are very dull when they dry, so I spray them with Kamar varnish and that really shines them up.

I have been gluing these small paper works to a firm matte board...also 5x7"... and that makes them so easy to place in a standard frame.  

Blue Wallflower

oil on 5 x 7" paper

available on Etsy

Night in White Satin

oil on 5 x 7" paper

available on Etsy

Since my art show Friday night, I have watched a ton of movies...I think vegging helps the recuperation process.  :)   We spent a lot of time with family this past weekend too.  This week I am hard at work on a commission painting for someone in western U.S.  It is coming along nicely and I will show it soon...I have a long way to go...it's a 30x24".   It is so fun to work on big canvases!  I like small too though, they are easier to store.

Tonight, the newlyweds are coming over for dinner.  We love getting to spend time with them!

Have a great day whatever you are doing!!

Jade

Jade
9 x 12 acrylic on wood panel
Available in my Etsy shop

     As I have mentioned before, I have been trying to be a little more controlled with my colors.  You know those paintings that draw you in because the palette is just so pleasing?  That's what I aimed for here.  A portrait with a simple background is the easiest way for me to do this vs say a landscape with lots of parts.  I used  THIS portrait by James Whistler as a guide at the beginning of my painting.  I was wanting to capture the colors he used...lots of grays and yellows and that wonderful grayish-green in the background.  However, her clothing went sort of minty green, but I really liked it so I left it that way.  It was more of a pale blue before, but as my background turned more green, so did the dress.

     I hope you are having an amazing week.  We have been enjoying our sunshine and temperatures in the 80's, but for some reason, there is a chance for snow tomorrow. ?????  Kansas is weird that way, but this is extremely unusual.  Our trees are just now waking up!