A Portrait of Chip

I'm doing this little portrait of Chip on commission and it will be a Christmas present for Chip's doting mistress.  He is a long-haired Chihuahua, and I love this photo that Chip's Dad took of him.  I think the fluffy hair on Chip's ears make him look a bit like a Viking!

I'm using Carel's technique again - acrylics worked like watercolor on Strathmore Illustration Board.  I wanted to see how I could do portraying fur with this tecnhiqe.  So far I'm pretty pleased, but I've got quite a ways to go.  I've used only three brushes - a 2" was brush, a #0 script liner, and a #12 flat.  Carel likes to use his liner brush on its side for larger areas and it seems to work fine.


As I look at the photo of my painting, I see that the black stripe is not centered on his forehead.  Also, it needs to be wider, and the black areas at the temple need to come further forward.  I'll correct that next time.

Covering the Bad Spot

Now it's time to deal with that ugly blob in the sky.  After much contemplation I decided that there was nothing I could do but cover it up, so I added another owl - one flying away - and then partially covered him with more mistletoe.  Once that was done, I finished the branches and added the little mouse.  The most fun part was painting the moonlight highlights on the branches.  I know that the lighting in this painting is not realistic.  The should be a much stronger shadow on all but the very edges of the owl.  I probably should have pushed that farther than I did but I just couldn't bear to cover all those feathers that I worked so hard on.  This painting really looks different depending on the lighting - I prefer it in somewhat dim light.

A Great Horned Owl

I have been looking forward to beginning this owl painting.  I did the drawing while I was still working on the painting of the mice in the chrysanthemums.  I'm using Carel's technique again.  Unfortunately, I missed my opportunity to photograph earlier stages.  My first step - after I transferred my drawing - was to do the underpainting with Raw Umber, except for the mistletoe which was a mix of Raw Umber and Sap Green.  Like Carel does, I used my #0 liner, most frequently working with lines but sometimes using the side of the brush for larger areas.  Specifically, I used the side on the branches for a nice texture.  And I also used it to shade the feathers.  I notice that the chest feathers lay very smoothly over each other and form large vertical undulations.  So before I began the individual feathers, I shaded to create the larger forms.  After masking the owl and the moon - but not the branches or mistletoe - I used several washes to paint the sky and each wash was a slightly different color.  Successive washes concentrated more and more towards the top of the paper making the lower part of the sky the lightest.  Unfortunately I have a big boo-boo in the sky just to the right of the mistletoe.  While I was working on the underpainting I got paint on my knuckle and smudged it on the paper.  To correct that problem I painted over it with white, not thinking that it would change the way the paper takes washes, so it created this ugly blob.  I'll deal with it later somehow.

Diminishing Returns

I can't really say that I've finished this painting, but I've stopped working on it - at least for the forseeable future.  I have really enjoyed Carel Brest van Kempen's painting technique and will continue working with it.  The paint goes so smoothly onto this surface and I appreciate being able to work successive glazes without disturbing what's underneath.  On this piece, I worked almost exclusively with transparency and didn't really explore what could be done with an opaque application used along with transparency, so that's for next time.

This little painting motivates me to learn more about rodents and especially mice!  While I was painting them it became clear that I didn't really understand their anatomy that well.  It also became clear that rodents are among my favorite animals.

When I went to Carel's workshops one of my goals was to learn how he does such beautiful detailed backgrounds.  He gave a lot of information, and I'm pretty sure I understood it.  But I didn't apply it that well in this piece, especially in the very back.  I definitely should have done better there.  This whole piece is pretty uneven in quality, actually.  And I especially wish I had had a better drawing before I started painting.  But, after all, it was a workshop piece and I learned a lot.  I like this design well enough that I may try it again in the future.

Inching Along

Today I didn't get to work on this as much as I'd have like to.  But I did manage to finish the textured garden floor with three rounds of masking and glazing.  Then I removed the mask from the entire painting.  At that point I could see that the contrast within the texture on the garden floor was too pronounced so I added another glaze layer to tone it down.  Then it was on to the dried leaves.  I didn 't come anywhere close to finishing them, but I made a good start.

Aside from various compositional problems and things not fully thought through (no value sketches) - I wish I had done my initial outlining on the leaves and flowers with green rather than brown.

As Carel predicted, the acrylic paint is flowing beautifully on this Strathmore illustration boad.  It's pretty easy to get even washes and the absorbency of the surface seems just right.

Feeling My Way

Four plus hours later, and it doesn't look that much different.  But Carel's process is admittedly a slow one.  And it's a process that I find I'm enjoying very much although I certainly can't claim to have a firm grip on it.

So far I'm working mostly transparently, and I'm not so sure how it's going to work painting opaquely over this base, but we'll see.

Today I finished masking the "main charaters," both animal and vegetable, and proceeded with a wash over the rest, establishing a basic values pattern and, in the process, the idea that the light source is above, to the left, and to the rear.  The "scooting out of town" mouse will end up in shadow (which I'd like to figure out how to dapple), along with the other two towards the back of the painting, while the two foreground mice will be in the sun.

After the wash had dried, I finished outlining the dried leaves.  It was time-consuming but also relaxing.  As I worked toward the front of the painting, I realized that it would look better to have some gaps in the leafy floor.  To work the spaces between the dried leaves I'm going to use Carel's technique for sand but with tiny debris shapes rather than tiny sand shapes.  (Actually the wash colors make me think I'd like some moss patches on the open ground so I'll try to figure out how to begin that tomorrow.)  So I masked out lots of little shapes in the spaces between the leaves then washed over them, grading the color as I went - layer one of many to come.  I think that in the end - after several more layers of masked shapes and washes - this ground will be a mid tone between the lights and darks in the dried leaves.

I usually have trouble painting more than two hours at a time, but today I didn't have trouble with more than four.  I'm liking this technique and feeling rejuvenated.  Thanks, Carel!

a Gift of Something New

I attended a wonderful workshop over the weekend.  It was at the Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona.  But even more wonderful than the location was the instructor, Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen, a naturalist and fabulous artist who is a Master member of the Society of Animal Artists.  I was so blessed to receive instruction - and encouragement - from this marvelous person.  We were also treated to hearing his comments on his paintings that were in the one-man show in the museum's gallery.

Here's the piece I worked on in the workshop.  Carel asked us each to bring some photo references.  We composed compositions from them, then went to work painting using the technique he has developed.  He uses acrylics thinned down so that the technique is similar to watercolor. But it's quite an improvement on watercolor for at least a couple of reasons.  First, glazing is easier as the lower layers absolutely stay put.  Also, one can paint light over dark by using the paint more opaquely.

 The photo here is my piece after an additional painting session here at home.   And I intend to continue working on it until it's done, which will likely be quite a while from now as the technique is so meticulous (though it will no doubt be less so in my hands!).

Carel really challenged me right from the beginning of the workshop by asking me why I wanted to paint mice.  I am ashamed to say that my flustered, bungling answer was essentially "because I like them."  Not very deep.  But the lesson is, I think, that considering why I am painting a certain subject will help to convey something in the painting other than simple surface decoration!

I learned that I need to do a lot more planning with my painting, even including value sketches, which I have carefully avoided so far.  I didn't do one for this painting, but I promise myself to do one for the next!

Invariably, I see something new when I look at the photo of my painting on the computer - in other words, when I write my blog entries.  And what I see here is that I have misdrawn the lower right mouse.  I had intended for him to be looking at the mouse who is scooting out of town.  But instead he's looking up in the air.  Rather than try to correct this problem - and it's probably too late anyway - I think I may add the shadow of a hawk so that it makes sense for him to be looking up.  This type of wriggling out of trouble has been typical of my process.  Sometimes it leads to happy accidents but I think it would be far better to work everything out ahead of time.

By the way, Carel has written a wonderful book - "Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding" which is available on amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Rigor-Vitae-Unyielding-Pieter-Kempen/dp/0972015418/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320196915&sr=1-1  and well worth the price.  It's a generous collection of his paintings with much informative and entertaining commentary.