Portraits in Watercolours PART 5: More 'En Profil'

Last session we continued with the 'en Profil' Portrait project. We worked mainly on 'Our own version' of that fabulous painting by John Singer Sargent, 'Madame X'

 
The original portrait of Mme X by John Singer Sargent

 
Bev created such a good version (Still WIP!), that at first sight doesn't look very different from the original. But do you notice the shoulder strap? (Originally the actual painting was like that too, but at the time it was 'censured', as too sexy. )


Here's the version by Brenda, Mme X in a stunning purple dress!

 

And Roxane's varietion wears a red dress - and a couple of profiles (or ghosts) in the background!

Corinne painted just the profile and she did that in around half an hour, that woman is so fast! Luckily there was another challenge for her (see below)


As there were not so many people who needed my attention, I painted a modern version of Mme X with a crew cut and colourful earrings 😊

 

And next to that

Corinne painted a 3/4 portrait, of Ian McKellen (or Gandalf) Beautiful light and shadows and good work on the bags under his eyes (part of next week's challenges...)

These two happy beautiful faces are WIP by Roxane. She decided to finish them in pencil. I am looking forward to the result (in 2 weeks)

Lastly, the poppies by Anna Karin are almost done now. They are so subtle and there is so much mysterious nature, it is amazing. 

 

Portraits in Watercolours PART 4: 'En Profil'

 The session of last week, we discussed the next perspective for a portrait - defined by the French term 'en profil'. 

Next to the ones that are derived from the full face logic, there is one rule of thumb for a profile and that is the vertical line you can draw along the start of the ear. It divides the skull in 2 halves that have the same width - measured from the top of the nose to the ear = same length as ear to back of skull. Or just look at the drawing below 😃

  

The theme of the day was 'create your ow version of the (unusual en-profil) portrait of 'Madame X' by John Singer Sargent. And to hget there we did exercises, drawing each others' profiles with one eye closed and without looking at the paper. A great way to draw, after a bit of practise you are almost 'tracing' the face. Enjoy the fabulous and very interesting and different  results:

Anna Karin really liked this method and played with it in true signature style! She also went on with the beautiful poppy (see below).

Martine's version of Madame X. It is such a gorgeous portrait and it makes me happy to look at.

Fantastic version by Laura! so well done - and there is one detail still missing, but she will add that: The letters VOGUE on top - half of them. Such a cool idea!

And who knows what Brenda will come up with! This WIP is very promising...

I also had great fun painting my version, I so like this feisty girl, still thinking of a name. Any suggestions?
And I have been bragging about the portrait of my daughter in that same pose but couldn't find a photo. So here it is! 

And in the meantime

Brenda refined the portrait of Susannah. Sje added shadows and more contrast and made the background darker. Small changes, that make all the difference!

 
And here is Sandra's latest project in the series 'Famous performers'. It is an interesting development that you will love seeing progress...

Anna Karin worked further on the poppy that she started 4 months ago. It wasn't easy to exactly remember how she created the colours, and the paper buckled so she will stretch the paper and come back later. 

Portraits in Watercolours PART 3: the 3/4 View

The next edition of the Portrait workshop is about another and in a way better perspective: The 3/4 view. . The group was different from last time, with some great members not available and other finally back from their travels (next time let's hope everyone will be back, that way we would have such great numbers. But - we had a fabulous time anyway.) 

We started with an overview of the typical proportions of a 3/4 view. This view gives more information about a person, for example, you see the nose - a quite important characteristic of the face - much better. There is foreshortening and because of that, not all of the 'rules' and distances are the same as with a full face view... Measuring becomes even more important. When drawing you can view the foreshortened part of the face as a a separate object, especially if you draw 'upside down' . And the eye, lips and nose have a different shape. 
Very important also is the fact that the face is often at an angle, which means that the eyes are not horizontal, as well as the nose and the mouth. Make sure you check that out!

   

After the theory-bit everyone got to work and the improvement is there for sure. Here are the portraits of Franck (2x), David & Cloé, Susannah, Robert and Sissy. By Denise, Anna Karin, Brenda, Anna and Martine.

 

 
You may have recognised Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek in the portrait results above, Celina once painted a very good 3/4 portrait of Sam Elliot. Here is is again, as a reminder and because we love Sam Elliott. 

Thecla on the other hand planned something entirely different, although you can see a face in it! it is a wonderful wet-in-wet technique and it looks so special! I love it.

Portraits in Watercolours PART 2: Proportions & colours

The second part of the Portrait workshop is a bit more about the actual painting. The group was unexpectedly small yet concentrated and we had a fabulous time. Here are the highlights:

Around Proportions:

Make sure you draw your first sketch lightly, too much or too dark a pencil will stain your portrait grey and will act as a shadow.

When in doubt, measure. If you work from a photo, measure with a ruler or with your pencil or your finger. Use that for the relative size, and for the angle
 

 (If you draw from a live model, close one eye when you measure!)

Sketch the basic shape of the skull of your model with hints of the hair. Then to be as objective as you can, turn your drawing as well as the photograph upside down. Draw the features, measuring carefully.

After basic sketch follows Painting: 

First mix the lightest as well as the darkest skin colour. Use try-out paper, let the colour dry because it dries lighter and you may have to add a bit of pigment. Avoid yellow, use ochre or raw sienna instead.
If there is a grey tone, rather choose green than blue.

The shadow is often much darker than you think. To see this well in your example picture, squint! (squeeze your eyes). 

After you have panted the lightest and darkest parts of the face, paint the in-between colours and then the parts with 'other' tones, like eyes, mouth and teeth.

Note that the eyes and the teeth are the only really shiny parts of the face. Especially the eyes. If they have highlights, leave those white. Everything else is darker
Also important to remember, the white of the eyes as well as the teeth are never really white...

The poetry of your portrait.

In our workshop we'd like it if the portrait resembles the mode. But it is also good to bring out the poetry! Because of their transparency, watercolours have a beautiful softness and a personal touch helps too. 
As we are using example-photos of people we don't know, a good idea would be to give them a name. The people painted below are Susannah, Heather, Peter, Philippa and Artemisia. The first portrait is an actual family member, of Brenda, her daughter 
Other ways of giving a personal touch are backgrounds, and colours of clothing and accessories...

And here are pix of the portrait-exercises

And then there were other projects :

 
Laura finished her Antibes painting! It will be turned into place-mats - what a great idea - and the perfect illustration for a lovely meal in the sun...

 
A near-perfect spheres exercise by new participant Beth! She has survived the first Watercolour class since she was 5 - and will definitely come back later in the year... We look forward to that.

Sonya has spent her summer far far away and she was very inspired to paint her spirit-animal, the buffalo (Divine, strength, balance, thankfulness, wealth and firmness.). It survived even her fierce criticism - and we all loved it! There is so much mystery, warmth, danger and character in this picture! Especially in the original, where the orange is much deeper (Sorry for the less than perfect photo) 

Very interesting abstract by Sandra - with a striking beam of sunlight, hard shadow and a spot of reflecting light that in the next stage changed into a black hole. Is my interpretation. But whatever, it has volume, transparency, interesting patterns and most of all, is intriguing...

Last but by no means least, Judith returned for 1 session in between travel and golf, to continue her search for the ultimate serene painting. We are all so impressed and funnily everyone has their own, different favourite. Mine is the one on the left, with the thin white line. I actually thought it was finished, but it isn't - so things can still change. But, super cool and I hope she will be back soon!

 

Next week: 3/4 view portraits 

 

 

Portraits in Watercolours PART 1: Proportions

The Aquarellistas are back - and how! We had a wonderful session last week, dedicated to portraits. In the coming four (or maybe even five) weeks we will have actual 'lessons' with exercises and plenty of examples. 

In the first session we discussed PROPORTIONS, using Full Front Face view. 

The most important ones are:

• There the distance between the eyes is approximately the length of one eye,

• The middle of the whole skull is the horizontal line of the nose bridge/middle of the eyes/start of the ears 

• The middle of the face is the line from under nose to start of ears

• The width of the nose is also one eye

• The width of the mouth is the same length as the distance between the middle of the eyes.

Or, in one simple picture 😊 

NB: these are rules of thumb, not every human face has perfect proportions, yet they can be very useful if you have a portrait that somehow is not right. 

Marina's advice for portrait painting:
It is very important to KYM (Know Your Model 😊) . The best practice is to have someone pose for you. If they are not available, try to get a video of them. That way you'll understand their character a bit better. 
And then a couple of photos, that you will work with. You choose one, the rest is for further reference.

Once you have selected your base photo, you can trace it (provided it has the correct size) 
That sounds easy but it is a lot of hassle and you miss a chance for really deeply looking.

Another method is drawing Upside Down. (Put the photo upside down and draw it upside down) this works well because it makes you more objective towards shapes & shadows. 

And then again you can of course just draw what you see in the photo!

If it is just the basic sketch for a painting (vs a black and white drawing), make sure your lines are thin, so that they don't stain your delicate colours with grey. 

As a first exercise I had brought pictures of sculptures. This meant that the proportions were not natural but man-made and that was confusing to some. The positive side was that everyone was measuring like crazy and drawing upside down and trying to understand.
Also sculptures are monochrome, easier to see shadow and light, no shiny eyes and teeth or difficult skin colours to be created. We'll do that next time. 

No one was particularly happy or proud after this exercise, I was the only one delighted with the results! Because, Yes, Portrait Painting is Difficult. 

The exercises below are all different and spectacular in their own way.  

A special compliment for Denise who sketched two versions of the same sculpture. One indignant and upset and one strong and at peace. Love 'em both, well done!

 

Our hero Corinne usually needs half the time of everyone else, so she could already paint the second portrait. Proportions check!, colours check! 
She will be elsewhere in the coming weeks - but it won't be a problem I guess.

Laura painted a very good sculpture and still found the time to tweak her Antibes affiche! Looking fab

 

Balloons and Eyes in watercolours: the last session of the season

The last watercolour session of the season we worked on different subjects, starting and finishing hot air balloons and some portrait-preparation because we will spend September on all ins and outs of portraits in watercolours. Fabulous projects going on, check it all out below!

This amazing sunset with hot air balloon is so beautiful! Corinne Bu painted it. She painted the Payne's Grey foreground first, and then realised that that would probably stain the wet-in-wet sky, so she put masking fluid over it. That may have taken a bit more time, but it worked. So good!

Corinne Bru painted a balloon too, while teaching and helping her beautiful and talented granddaughter Cloë. I think it is quite an achievement that she still has painted that sky as well as a colourful balloon...

Cloë is 7 years old and she painted this! Of course she had help from the amazing Corinne, but still, it is very clever. After she had finished, she painted 'Smudge the cat detective' (That is my title, but she agreed). I love him. Tabby, big eyes that don't miss a detail, and clearly a sense of humour.
 

Just take a long look at this mysterious, innocent and friendly eye. Painted by Martin with a big brush and finished with a one-hair.  Totally in balance,and so quiet. Love it.

Roxane also started with eyes (this of course has to do with the Portrait Project) and drew the eyes of both her sons, just to 'get into it'

Judith went on putting transparent layers on the 'veils'. Until the moment decides that it is done. I want to note that for me (but I am not the artist) the one above has reached that moment. It is just exactly right and in balance and the darker upper right side works perfectly. The one below is much more of an experiment, interesting but needs something still, with all that movement going on. 

Thecla worked with Judith the whole afternoon. She painted her version of the 'transparent layers',and especially the painting above feels so very deep, it tells about healing and scars. Very good, and an excellent way to get a grip on the heavy things in life, while emptying your head. That is what art can do! 

Hot Air Balloons - in Aquarelle watercolours

Last session we worked with a small group (it is summer, most Aquarellistas are on holiday or preparing for it). That is another dynamic, very relaxed, lots of fun and also good, deep concentration. We painted Hot Air Balloons And how! 

Like this amazing, contrast-rich balloon in smashing colours by Corinne 2. I am impressed, the feel of it is so real! Fantastic. I want to be in it! And she also worked on a sunset version, but that is in the early stages ore next post! 

Plenty of time for me to paint a balloon - I used a lot of Gum Arabic, for the flow, to keep it wet a bit longer in the hot French weather, and to be able to lift the paint around the sun. It all worked well, yet another observation is that the paint granulates a bit more when using the gum. 

The 'road' is created with masking fluid on he first dark layer. 

We will continue the balloons next week during our last session.

In the meantime, other projects were started, continued or finished:

This funny Dachshund card was painted by Ingrid, to adorn a wedding present. It says (in German): "Lots of love and a looooooong, happy marriage". So Funny! 

 

Brenda used her Aquarellista time to work on some drawings that could use a bit of colour. This is Cipières, where we drew the village centre during a One Day Drawing trip. Great stuff, so good to see it again...

Laura moved from candle light to this adorable candle-lighted portrait of a little girl. 

The expression is so strong and good!  

Tony was there for the last time this summer and worked with great enthusiasm and all different kinds of input (phone, book, memory) on a anecdote painting of the market with the pink umbrellas in Grasse. They don't have that in Seattle, so he will have to come back soon!

Sandra worked on two different projects. This is one of her tulips, a WIP still, but already strong, colourful and true to her style,  a bit distorted.  And below a gorgeous soft Lake scape. Wonderful colours! Also WIP (I conclude that from the blue tape) 

More about Sandra in the Expo corner
 

During the Thursday session I had time to finish the antique golden shoe, it was fun and difficult but very satisfying

 
These two instalments in the Judith series are officially finished. They still needed one or two subtle brush strokes and then all of a sudden it was in perfect balance. First the one above and at the end of the session, the one below also.

 
There are two more, that still need lots of lush transparent strokes. I am very interested in the one below, because it is definitely a new approach. More next week, stay tuned, watch this space!

And Last but not Least, the EXPO corner

In this week's expo news, we have Sandra's August Exhibition, in the 

Office du Tourisme 
9 rue Frédéric Mistral
in Cabris. 

She will show her amazing Land- Sea- and Lakescapes and probably other watercolours.Together with a couple of non-painters, you can count on varied work!  The expo starts on 25 August and finishes on 15 September. There will be a vernissage, 

Open every day, 10 am - 1pm and 3 - 6 pm...
 

And when you read this, Martin's next expo has already opened.

Galerie Expressions 22  
22 Rue Alexis Julien
06560 Valbonne
Open Every Day
9.30 am - 12.30 and 3.30 - 7.30pm
Fun stuff exhibited in that gallery: next to Martin's watercolours there will be Glass, Carnets de voyage and Bronze sculptures. 

To be continued! Don't hesitate to send me the specs of your expo's as long as they are watercolours!