Starting from the very…middle?
I work on a number of paintings at once, mixing a tone for a specific part on one canvas and then also applying it anywhere that seems plausible on any of the other canvases. I build up layers as I go without paying much attention as to how I lay down the marks until an image gets to some unnamable place. At that point, I focus on it and complete it.
The first blush of color. Yellow for the background because I knew it would be green in the end and I wanted it to be a lively shade.
Establishing proper colors and picking out highlights, while also reiterating the lines that delineate the features.
Margo’s portrait didn’t really begin until this stage for me. What came before was underpainting. When I saw this, I started the real work.
Gwenn Seemel
Margo
2007
acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 inches
Just as it’s easier to edit than it is to write, I find it’s easier to paint when I have something on the canvas already—something with which I can agree or disagree.
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CATEGORIES: - Process images - Practice -
(4) Comments / Commentaires: Starting from the very…middle?
I make the lines spontaneously. They’re a part of all the layers of the painting, not just the final one, so they can’t be too thought-out.
Fairly regularly, I’ll make a mark and then wish I could take it away, but I try to avoid wiping away brush strokes—it just seems noncommittal to me. Instead, I layer over them and I tend to think they make the painting richer. What I mean to say is that there aren’t any mistakes, only layers!
And thank you, the dynamism of a portrait is very important to me, and I’m always happy when people remark on it!
Yeah, the sketchiness is a nice quality.
Nothing sketchy about this portrait. beautiful. from the lock of hair curled under the ear, to the warm crystal blue gaze of Margo,
Theresa...
I love how your portraits always feel so alive, and I’m not much of an art critic but I think it’s because of the “extra” colorful lines. They look like you made them quickly, but I’m curious if they’re something you consider carefully or if they just flow without thinking?
PS - l love the little star on her forehead, and I love the fact that it doesn’t seem out of place somehow!
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