Saturday, October 06, 2007

The Cat


My final project for painting class was of our Persian cat, Nicky. He wouldn't sit still of course, so I worked this from a photograph. My instructor later told me that if i had said I was going to paint an animal that she would have discouraged me.

Portrait Painting

This is my first time painting a portrait. I actually enjoyed doing this more than any of the previous painting projects. I was surprised at how easy this was. I feel like my past experience in portrait drawing has served me well here. As well I did a little research and found a wonderful artist's site. His name is Berkeley and his blog, A Berkeley Daily, has some very interesting videos showing him at work (in fast motion) on various paintings including portraits. These and a book called "Art Class" really helped me put the lectures together with actual practice.

Painting...

Much has happened since my last postings. I started a painting class and finished it. At first I was apprehensive, thinking that there was no way I would do good in a painting class, as I am not at all used to this medium. It turns out that it was allot of fun and I quickly changed my mind as the class progressed. Painting, it turns out, is very time consuming. I chose to use acrylics for these works due to time restraints (mostly in terms of drying time).
These first images are all basically warm ups and studies in color and form. They include traditional still life setups of fruits, bottles, and other ordinary items.After these simple paintings came multiple still life objects...





Then came flowers. I found these to be a weak point for me.