Head Painting: Final Out-of-class Paintings

We had to do a couple paintings out of class for our final.  One of them had to be a self-portrait, but the other could be whatever we chose.  I think they both turned out pretty well (especially since I struggle with warm lighting some times), but I'm particularly proud of the self-portrait.  Painting/drawing yourself can be really hard!  Somehow it all came together though, and I am very happy with it! :)

This has been such a great class.  I've learned so much and feel a lot better about my abilities as an artist.  I hope I can continue to develop these skills and get better and better forever!  I LOVE ART!!!

PS: Since I won't have any more art classes... ever... (aahh!) I'm going to make sure I am diligent about doing art on my own for fun and posting it to this blog.  So keep checking back! And thanks for your support!

Head Painting: Week 14

I can't believe this was my last ever class at BYU!  I'm freaking out about it, but I'm glad I was at least able to end on a good note. :)  I think this final painting turned out pretty well!  The colors were a lot of fun to play around with and it ended up really looking like the model too.  I'd say it's a pretty good summary of everything I've learned in this class this semester.

Head Painting: Week 13

The semester is almost over! Aahh! I'm pretty sad because I've really loved this class and feel like I've learned so much.  I've just got to make sure I keep doing this sort of thing on my own even if it's not assigned homework!

I kept playing a little with brighter, bolder colors in this first painting.  It was interesting having the fabric there to play around with (since we've never really done any drapery stuff in this class).  I also did a lot of the fabric with a palette knife at the end to add texture.  I also took some progress pictures so you can kinda see my process! :)

Background color, "sketch", and starting to lay flat color shapes in the face

Adding dimension to the face with shadows, highlights, and color variation

Adding color to the scarf and the yellow rim lighting on the face

Refined details in the face (such as the eyes) and added more textured color in the scarf and background with a palette knife

This second painting was weird.  There was this super unnatural green light on one side and a bright red light on the other.  It was a struggle to paint the model without her looking like a) Christmas or b) an alien/zombie.  The fact that she kept her eyes closed a lot of the time also led to a slightly creepy feel for this painting.  Oh well!

Head Painting: Week 12

We had some more men to paint this week!  We kept working on things we've done before (like colored lighting, double light sources, etc.).  I felt like the first painting this week turned out really nicely and is a good representation of what I think my general "style" tends to be.  The second painting, however, is totally different! I decided to go out on a limb and be much more bold and experimental with my colors.  It was fun!  :)  Also, hats are weird.

I love the purple on the cool-light side of his neck in contrast to the hot yellow and orange!

Head Painting: Week 11

This week I tried to merge my usual style/method with the thicker painting stuff I'd been doing the week before.  I agree with my teacher that the paintings just look a little nicer and more professional when they have more paint on them.  I really enjoy this method, and I'm going to keep working on completely getting the hang of it.

I tried to stay a little more loose with this first one, and then I tightened it up on the second one. We've also still been playing around with the double, contrasting-temperature light sources.

I only had just over 2 hours for this one instead of the normal 3-- there's more I would have liked to do with it but I ran out of time!

Head Painting: Week 10

This week I decided to force myself out of my comfort zone and TRY SOMETHING NEW! My teacher's biggest recurring suggestion for me is to "put more paint on the canvas".  My paintings tend to be pretty thin and flat (which is more comfortable for me).  Also-- oil paint is expensive! But Brother Barrett says to "paint like a rich person"-- don't skimp on the amount of paint you use.  I finally decided to throw hesitation to the wind and pile the paint on (well... it seemed like a lot of paint to me).  I was actually rather pleased with how it turned out too!

I also decided to try direct painting for the first time.  Instead of doing a whole drawing underneath and then painting it in, direct painting means just building everything up as you go.  It was scary not having a drawing to reference, but it turned out alright. :)

Look at that thick paint!

I kept doing the same sort of thing for the second painting for the week, but it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted. But overall this week was a really good learning experience!

Head Painting: Week 9 (plus some figure drawing)

We kept going this week with the contrast of two, conflicting-temperature light sources.  This time it was a bright red light instead of yellow.  It was tricky and my paintings didn't turn out quite the way I wanted.  Oh well! You win some, you lose some. :)

The light from both sides was pretty dim and I struggled with keeping the painting low-key and not having a distinct light/dark side.

The lighting was a little more straightforward with this one (brighter light on one side) and I think I did a little better with it

I also did some more figure drawing in Springville!  I LOVE FIGURE DRAWING.  That is all.  :)