DENISE MAXWELL - ART
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Portrait Demo

9/26/2014

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Quick Colour Study and Measuring Techniques

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I've been trying to produce some videos of my process to get myself ready for the demo that I presented this week. Much of what I shot isn't presentable but a great way to practice and figure out what you are doing and why. I've been also writing about my portrait project but that is more on how it is while I am painting and what is going on inside me. This is how I'm figuring out why I took on such a huge project and looking at the learning and challenges I'm meeting along the way.
My only regret with the demo is that I only just barely got started on the portrait when the time had ended. Maybe next time I'll be faster and get a small piece completed to my satisfaction.
I did get some of the techniques detailed and some repeated which is good, so that it may help with better understanding and retention. At least this has been helping me as I practiced doing my videos. I hope that I was able to teach something, as the process I'm learning is endlessly fascinating to me now and especially as I try to learn new things daily. I also see my portraits starting to evolve and that makes me very happy.
I'll write more on the quick colour study next post.
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Plexiglass Colour Testing

9/17/2014

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One way to make sure my colour spots are close to the live session and I also check against the iPad which is sitting close to the painting. I used this piece of Lexan plexiglass to check for value, temperature and hue. 
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Portrait of a Young Girl

8/8/2014

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Didn't get finished this one until a couple of days ago as per usual had a tremendous time getting the mouth done correctly. I think this has turned out pretty good but I'll have to let the parents be the judge of that. Tried to stay pretty loose on the hair and clothing but the face needed a lot of layers and extra care.
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Portrait #14 Started

7/25/2014

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I was also working this week on a new portrait which I will start this weekend on a 12"x16". I had D sit for me for close to 2 hours. The first hour I worked on a small colour study to be sure I had the tones all correct. Then as she was willing to stay longer I spent 45 minutes on a quick study, larger this time 11"x14". I was pleased with what I managed in that time but it is only a quick study, but good to have for the larger piece.
I had a couple of young guys drop by on this same day as D was still there. They wanted to know if I charged for doing portraits and as I'm not charging right now they wanted me to paint their portraits, him and his homey right then and there. I explained to them that they could be part of my project but they wouldn't be able to have the portraits till after the show and then they could purchase them. I find the more I'm in public painting that I can see how people just have no concept of the work and effort involved. I'm going to have to start doubling my prices.

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Last Day of the Residency

6/30/2014

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Today was my official last day of the residency but now my work starts to produce 100 portraits for my show in the same space, Whoo Hoo! Today I also photographed another couple of neighbours and I've now got 89 people shot. That is amazing to me and I'm looking forward to the next phase of my project. I'm also surprised I'm here at the end of the residency, 3 months and some of it felt long but now I'm a little shocked it's over.
Also finished this portrait of Andre and feel pretty happy with the finished piece. May need to rephotograph with better light but here it is.

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Andre From My Sketch Book

6/28/2014

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My plan to finish the oil portrait of Andre went out the window today. I did however sit down and pencil sketch him again. I've wanted to practice sketching his mouth as I can see now, this is giving me trouble and capturing the correct expression on the painting has eluded me. Having him come and sit has been great and the pencil sketching has given me some insight as to how I may now finish the painting. I decided to put this up for auction as I went further with the sketch then just the mouth and I'm curious to see if a portrait as interesting as this will sell on line.
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Nearly Finished

6/26/2014

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I had another sitting with Andre today and will finish this very soon as I have gotten pretty close to being completed. His locks have been very interesting to do and I left them to last since every time he moves about they change positions greatly. I'll complete them now from the photo as I have all the hues and values well established.
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At The Farmers Market

6/14/2014

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My local farmer's market has started it's new season. As I am officially still in the last couple of weeks of my portrait residency I figured I'd add the head with the the planes to my still life set up. The market is just outside of where I am located for painting and this week I went out into the market to see more of my neighbours. It was a very busy market and I got a lot of interest. 

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This is a screen shot from the video I tried to take that didn't turn out for me. I need a lot more practice before I show any of them. At the end of the market hours the sun came out for a short while, lovely. 
You can see some of my portraits on display, plus the still life set up. I purchased an orchid that wasn't going to fit my panel very well, a bit too high but beautiful with lots of buds. I shortened the stem and brought it into the oval design element I chose to work with. I didn't need to move mountains in this plein air painting.

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Working from Life

5/8/2014

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For two days now I have had friends come and sit for me. So much better then working from the photos. Yesterday I worked on getting a study done for colours mainly. Today I am getting close to finishing a portrait that I've been going back to regularly. Having my friend to sit was a great help. I'm sure it will take little now to complete the portrait. I volunteered to sit tonight for a group to paint my portrait and it was very interesting having the opportunity to listen to someone teach portraiture. I found it very informative and learned a new way to approach the portrait after the first drawing stage with the first painting stage was using the lights and darks only. I have not been doing this with just those two piles mixed up, I've been making more then two. I'm sure there are as many techniques as artists painting though. Also as I keep saying over and over I've been attempting to get plane shapes first and will carry on with this approach and add this new idea of seeing the main shadow and lights, once I have the the planes well worked out. Since I draw them first anyways this will help me see how the light falls across them. I will probably go back to a drawing stage again then I go into the darks, then the middle values and finally the lights for the next painting stage. This is a little different then what I've been doing as I've been scumbling in the temperatures and hues I've been seeing but these large flat shapes are probably the best way to go. When I did this small colour sketch I was all over the map with my progression and steps. I did notice that as my friend was working on my portrait she was first searching out the planes and that gave her a good foundation to work from. I was glad to see she gleaned something from my nattering at her for two hours. It was great practice for me to talk it through also.
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Quick Portrait Colour Sketch

5/6/2014

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Had a friend join me and sit for a couple of hours. This is part of my next step to try and get more face to face time instead of working first from photos then have my model sit for me. I'm switching this up by trying to have a sitting first then proceed larger with the photo and quick a the colour study.
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Here I was finding the overall shape of the head some measuring and placement of features but mostly finding planes. The first preliminary drawing with the first painted drawing stage on top.

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I had done this in a smaller book and with having a secondary light source I found it a little difficult to get the values correct. Started with 3 piles-a light flesh tone mixture, shadow tone and mixed transitional tones which I varied from warm and cool depending on which side of the face this was on. Since I was trying to be quick with this session I managed mostly with following what I was seeing but got a bit lost with warm and cool aspects having the secondary light source plus finding it hard to see the temperatures and I wasn't sure of the theory and how it should be applied. Back to my studies for that.

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