Baluchi Basket Weaver

I consider this painting a success not because I am satisfied with how it eventually turned out, but because of all the things I learned in the process. For one thing I now know that painting white material is trickier than it looks, especially the parts in shadow: I used too many cool colors for the shadows of the garment, making it look like there is ice underneath, not human flesh. In my next painting (will be posted soon)I went a little warmer in the shadows: Instead of ivory black I mixed raw umber with titanium white with a touch of yellow ochre, and used it for the shadow parts of the folds and creases in the white shirt.

 William Whitaker is a master of painting figures in white robes with sharp contrasts of white and grey. His compositions are simple both in color and form which induce a sense of serenity and solitude.

Another thing I learned is that there is a meaningful harmony between a cool green and a warm brown. For the greens in the keffiyeh I used viridian and ultramarine with copious amounts of titanium, and for the background I mixed burnt sienna, alizarin and ultramarine plus some mixture leftover just to kill it off a little.

a painting a day a story a day: Oil Sketch from Life

a painting a day a story a day: Oil Sketch from Life: Limited palette, minimal strokes and a hasty signature down there: That's all I managed in the 4 hours time I had with this model, half of w...

Oil Sketch from Life

Limited palette, minimal strokes and a hasty signature down there: That's all I managed in the 4 hours time I had with this model, half of which went for tea ( smoking) breaks, light adjustment, and the turning on of a million-year-old heater. The model though was great! and I didn't keep it a secret. An almost copper complexion with chiseled features plus a checked black and crimson turban I wish I had more time to elaborate on a bit.

The thing I like about this workshop is that there is no teaching, which means you pay less and work more. It is just a bunch of amateur and professional painters working together at a friendly atmosphere. And if there is any learning it is random, informal and mainly through looking at each other's works.

When you paint against time you tend to do it more strategically, trying to appreciate every second and every stroke you lay on the canvas, and more often the result turns out to be more spontaneous and dynamic. As you see in this portrait I retained the first turpentine wash for the background and in parts for the face as well. I know I sound a bit Schmidish, but honestly I think there is no way escaping his influence, at least for years to come.