Any Portrait Painters Here? (nudity)

[mattsterbenz]

So I have recently dabbled a bit in painting the human figure (I have drawn it before, but stayed away from the subject in my canvas paintings). I want to try painting portraits and broaden my commission field.

Anyone here paint portraits and care to share your work/experience? I\'d love to learn more.

Anyhoo, here\'s two of mine. These are the first two \"portraits\" that I\'ve done. Still lots and lots to learn!

Here\'s my second one, and I can already see improvement. Took 2 hours, painted from life. I may go back and \"finish\" it. Still not sure if I\'ll even bother

-Matt

 

[Dragonsreach]

Much kudos, young sir.
The human figure in all its glory is one of my favorite subjects.
Sadly I have no capability to capture that glory, hence why I stick to sketches and landscapes.

As for the two examples above well I have to say that as colour sketches they are very good. More working drawings towards a more \"rendered piece\" to my eye.
BUT the big and most important question is: Are you happy with them?

 

[jahminis]

nice one, matt...

i can see your mini painting style in these, especially in the second one...

keep it up!!!
(you can take that comment any way ya want, given the subject matter)

cheers
jah

 

[mattsterbenz]

Thanks guys

jah, I\'ll certainly be keeping things up for sure Maybe it\'s my canvas painting style that shows up in my miniatures

DR: I was moderately happy with the paintings since they were my first figure paintings, but I saw lots of problems that stuck out like a sore thumb (But I am always very critical of my work, just the way I am)

The main problems that I saw with the first painting is that it is way too dark. That model has very pale skin and I did not do an accurate job mixing colors. Shadows are far too dark and the transitions are too drastic.

The second one is a different model and I got the colors a bit better. The shadows were still a little too dark and too warm, there was a problem with the ear, and some of the shadows below her collar bone aren\'t accurate.

I \"finished\" up the second portrait with some advice from my instructor, posted in my deviant art. I wanted to smooth out the transitions a bit more on it, but because it was painted on non-gesso paper the oil was absorbed very quickly and makes it difficult to work with (I\'ll be painting on MDF or canvas next time). I fixed the ear a little bit and lightened the shadows. I didn\'t notice the collar bone problems until after I took the second picture.

The figure class isn\'t meeting for two weeks because of spring break (instructor is going to Ireland and England) but I will try to get in a portrait or two done on my own until then.

Thanks again for the kind words and encouragement.

-Matt

 

[Avelorn]

Very well done, you will no doubt figure out the problems I also can spot. There is a nice improvement between the first and the second one. I like the face on the first one though even if it might not be entirely accurate.. something with the expression that catches my eye.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by mattsterbenz
Here\'s my second one, and I can already see improvement. Took 2 hours, painted from life. I may go back and \"finish\" it. Still not sure if I\'ll even bother

FWIW Matt I would definitely leave them as they are, that way you can refer to them in the future to gauge improvement painting from life over the same kind of timeframe.

If you don\'t have one already I\'d recommend one of the SBS books by John Howard Sanden. In addition to seeing the process he also breaks down in detail the mixes he uses as a starting point for all his work (which can be bought as a set if desired).

I also like to suggest checking if your local library has a couple of older figure-painting books by Wendon Blake and Douglas Graves.

Einion

 

[SJB]

Great work Matt, well observed

I used to go to a local life drawing studio (might go again when I get the cash together). Did \'some\' painting but mostly worked in a sketchbook.

Here\'s one of my favourite pieces.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by SJB
Great work Matt, well observed

I used to go to a local life drawing studio (might go again when I get the cash together). Did \'some\' painting but mostly worked in a sketchbook.

Here\'s one of my favourite pieces.

Talented Git!

 

[jerry kurl]

Very nice, the second one is very nicely done i would say take alittle bit from your amazing mini painting skills and try and blend through the colours more, it will work better on canvas or board (mdf does tend to drawn the oil more than canvas so you\'ll need to work slightly quicker than a treated canvas) the main issue with your second painting is the collar bone areas otherwise top work and easily exhibitional

keep it up

 

[Bigdennis52]

i think they turned out good I think your second painting is better than the first but you will learn your own techiques with time