Hi there!
I've decided to use WordPress instead which allows me to consolidate my site and blog with one service.
You can now find everything through www.ChristineMitzuk.com.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Relocating the Blog
I've decided to use WordPress instead which allows me to consolidate my site and blog with one service.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Posthumous Portrait
As a present for my husband, I painted a posthumous portrait of his mother. Kinda tricky. I had to work from photos, and my memories and impressions of her.
Step 1
Transfer the photo reference as a line drawing/tracing to the canvas and start painting. I thought this would be a shortcut. Turns out it wasn't. I found I wasn't really understanding the forms and it was looking flat. So...
Step 2
Do a drawing. Not a highly rendered drawing but a drawing from observation instead of tracing. Instead of just copying what I saw and trying to exactly place all the bits, I actively thought about form (shapes, volumes, overlapping forms, and underlying structure), plane changes, and value groupings.
Next time if I transfer a picture, I'll try to be more mentally engaged with forms. Though I did enjoy doing the drawing so maybe a quick one stays in my process.
Step 3
Go back to the painting. Think about shape, volume, value, color, edges. With each layer of paint continue to think about shape, volume, value, color, edges.
I had a few progress shots but due to technical difficulties, they are long gone. Instead, here's the finished piece (or at least really close to being done).
Materials and Painting
This portrait was painted in oils. Generally my process goes something like this. For the lay-in/first pass I thin the paint with Gamsol (a type of odorless mineral spirits. It has the least amount of evaporation per hour so I'm not breathing in too much junk). Following the "fat over lean" principle, I use less Gamsol and more paint in the next several passes. Nearing the end when I'm working finer detail and edges I add a little Galkyd Lite to the mix. I tried regular Galkyd ages ago but found it set up too quick for me.
Right now I still use the Paxton Pallete from training at The Atelier (with a few additions of my own for this specific project). Eventually I'll experiment with other colors.
The Paxton Palette lends itself well to natural colored subjects, like people, because of the qualities of mineral pigments v.s. modern/organic pigments. Most all the colors in the Paxton palette are mineral pigments with the exception of Alizarin Crimson.
Paxton Palette Colors
If you're interested, you can read more about mineral vs. modern colors
here: http://www.gamblincolors.com/newsletters/studionotes19.html
here: http://www.goldenpaints.com/justpaint/jp26article2.php
Yes they're product pages, but you can glean some helpful general information too.
Step 1
Transfer the photo reference as a line drawing/tracing to the canvas and start painting. I thought this would be a shortcut. Turns out it wasn't. I found I wasn't really understanding the forms and it was looking flat. So...
Step 2
Do a drawing. Not a highly rendered drawing but a drawing from observation instead of tracing. Instead of just copying what I saw and trying to exactly place all the bits, I actively thought about form (shapes, volumes, overlapping forms, and underlying structure), plane changes, and value groupings.
Next time if I transfer a picture, I'll try to be more mentally engaged with forms. Though I did enjoy doing the drawing so maybe a quick one stays in my process.
Head Study
Utrecht Recycled Sketchbook paper
Conte Sanguine Pencil, Conte White
Utrecht Recycled Sketchbook paper
Conte Sanguine Pencil, Conte White
Step 3
Go back to the painting. Think about shape, volume, value, color, edges. With each layer of paint continue to think about shape, volume, value, color, edges.
I had a few progress shots but due to technical difficulties, they are long gone. Instead, here's the finished piece (or at least really close to being done).
Oil on Linen, 9"x12"
Materials and Painting
This portrait was painted in oils. Generally my process goes something like this. For the lay-in/first pass I thin the paint with Gamsol (a type of odorless mineral spirits. It has the least amount of evaporation per hour so I'm not breathing in too much junk). Following the "fat over lean" principle, I use less Gamsol and more paint in the next several passes. Nearing the end when I'm working finer detail and edges I add a little Galkyd Lite to the mix. I tried regular Galkyd ages ago but found it set up too quick for me.
Right now I still use the Paxton Pallete from training at The Atelier (with a few additions of my own for this specific project). Eventually I'll experiment with other colors.
The Paxton Palette lends itself well to natural colored subjects, like people, because of the qualities of mineral pigments v.s. modern/organic pigments. Most all the colors in the Paxton palette are mineral pigments with the exception of Alizarin Crimson.
Paxton Palette Colors
- Ivory Black
- Raw Umber
- Alizarin Crimson
- Indian Red
- Light Red
- Cadmium Red Light (was Vermillion but Cad. Red Light is a good replacement)
- Cremnitz White (this is lead carbonate so I'm using up the one tube I have and then I'll be switching to something else)
- Cadmium Yellow Light
- Naples Yellow
- Yellow Ochre
- Viridian Green
- Ultramarine Blue
- Additions: Manganese Blue, Cerulean Blue, Permanent Sap Green Deep (this last one mainly because I wanted to see how it mixed for cool shifted flesh tones).
If you're interested, you can read more about mineral vs. modern colors
here: http://www.gamblincolors.com/newsletters/studionotes19.html
here: http://www.goldenpaints.com/justpaint/jp26article2.php
Yes they're product pages, but you can glean some helpful general information too.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Experiment: Camera Lucida
So a couple guys did a Kickstarter. They created a modern version of the camera lucida: the NeoLucida. I was curious so I chipped in.
Backstory
David Hockney, in his book "Secret Knowledge," proposed that many of the old masters used optics as they came available. This ruffled some feathers. I'm halfway through the book and I think it's a pretty interesting read. He includes some well thought out experiments and examples of the various optics (camera lucida being one of them).
The NeoLucida
Back to the Kickstarter. I received my copy of the NeoLucida in November and last night finally gave it a try.
The directions are straightforward. I thought, "piece of cake".
I clamped the NeoLucida to the table and put my drawing paper under the prism. I set up an 18" tall statue about 2.5'-3' away from me and got started.
In reality, there was a little learning curve and some trial and error to get the hang of it.
I had to:
I can see how it would be useful for portraits or a very simple still life. I think it would be trickier to use for a composition of multiple objects. Plus I think I'd end up with a sore back with all that leaning over. There must be a better way to set up if I were to use it more (maybe a standing desk) but I don't think I'll use it very much.
It was a worthwhile exercise to be able to take a peek into historical drawing tools. Personally I like just drawing freely.
You can read a bit more about the history of the camera lucida here: http://neolucida.com/history/
Backstory
David Hockney, in his book "Secret Knowledge," proposed that many of the old masters used optics as they came available. This ruffled some feathers. I'm halfway through the book and I think it's a pretty interesting read. He includes some well thought out experiments and examples of the various optics (camera lucida being one of them).
The NeoLucida
Back to the Kickstarter. I received my copy of the NeoLucida in November and last night finally gave it a try.
NeoLucida in the box
The directions are straightforward. I thought, "piece of cake".
I clamped the NeoLucida to the table and put my drawing paper under the prism. I set up an 18" tall statue about 2.5'-3' away from me and got started.
In reality, there was a little learning curve and some trial and error to get the hang of it.
I had to:
- constantly lean over the table and keep my eye about 1" from the prism
- adjust my angle of viewing and kind of slide myself along the image as I traced so I could see the pencil and the little statue I was tracing
my attempt (about 5.5") and the statue I was drawing on the right
I can see how it would be useful for portraits or a very simple still life. I think it would be trickier to use for a composition of multiple objects. Plus I think I'd end up with a sore back with all that leaning over. There must be a better way to set up if I were to use it more (maybe a standing desk) but I don't think I'll use it very much.
It was a worthwhile exercise to be able to take a peek into historical drawing tools. Personally I like just drawing freely.
You can read a bit more about the history of the camera lucida here: http://neolucida.com/history/
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