Borrowed Scarf
20 x 16
2 hour demo
I'm always thrilled to be asked to do a painting demo. The tension of talking about my process, answering questions and observing the model well enough to capture a likeness is invigorating and some of my best paintings have been created under these circumstances. While I won't go so far as to say that I work best under pressure, it sure does focus the mind and you don't do any useless fiddling about.
This portrait was painted in 2 hours last night in front of members of the Calgary Sketch Club. The image to the left is where I left off at the end of the demo and the large picture above is the finished piece. I put in another hour or so this morning while it was still wet and the model's face was still clear in my mind. Most of the work was just a matter of strengthening the paint in thin areas and creating linkages of color throughout the piece. I also toned down the reflected color on the neck and chin area. It was too strong and the audience said so, but it's a dangerous thing to make huge changes in a few minutes, so I saved it till today.
Of course he stimulation of painting at night kept me awake for hours, but it was worth it. There's nothing better than painting, not even sleep.
