When I started painting today I was bitching to myself because I just couldn’t find the brushes that I wanted to use. Wow, it was like they’d all worn out all at once….

These are the same size brushes – the one on the right is brand new and the one on the left is ??? old. When they’re worn out like that they just don’t paint the same. To this day my mother complains about how often she had to buy me paint when I was a teenager…..yes, mother, paint tubes run out and brushes wear down. The funny thing about brushes is that it usually takes me a while before I realize that a brush should be discarded. Usually I complain for awhile – thinking that it’s my inability to paint – when really, it’s the brush’s inability to perform it’s task once it’s worn down. …..and yes, someday I’ll sort through my brushes and throw out the useless ones.

The hardest part about glazing over an underpainting is that for a day or two the skin tones look really really sickly….and it’s hard to resist the temptation to start painting on thickly which would defeat the entire idea of doing an underpainting. In the last few months  I must have either  1) learned patience or 2) learned how to glaze -  because this time I’m willing to go slowly and build up thin layers of color. My vote is for #2.  Also, I think that the extremely fine canvas that I’m painting on now makes the skin tones look better – it almost looks like soft, smooth skin. Another thing about glazing over an underpainting is that you can get the eyes to look great – glazing makes the irises look very detailed. and you can be more subtle about adding in the red of the blood close to the surface.

When I glazed color onto the arms I applied the color in lines and then fan brushed the colors to blend them. The arm on the left is blended; the one on the right shows the lines. The lightest color is cadmium red light/naples yellow/white, the shadow is permanent blue violet, and the deeper skin tone is burnt sienna. I stroked the fan brush in the direction of the hair on my arms! In order words – not straight up-and-down and not straight side-to-side – but rather, in an upward sweep.

I love painting tubes of paint – it’s so much fun to make them look all squished up and messy. Remember: lighter colors come forward and darker colors go back. So to create the dent in the red paint tube I painted the dent prussian blue/black/white and the top of the tube is  mostly white/prussian blue. Always remember to make a shadow under them to make them appear as though they’re sitting on the tabletop.

Really hated the blue background and it made the skin tones look very sickly. Started painting over it very thinly with mixtures of cadmium red light/naplesyellow and straight cadmium yellow medium. I did it very unevenly so that some atmosphere was created. When I first started painting it on, I wasn’t sure i liked it, but found the finished  background very interesting. Strange thing is – it made the skin tones POP and I look much healthier!

The painting is far from finished, but I’m starting to like it. There’s a certain look  about it which screams ILLUSTRATION !!! And I don’t mind that a bit…..

I’m working on these small 16×20″ paintings to use on greeting cards and maybe, hopefully, on calendars or magnets. And then it dawned on me……I could use myself to create a character for character licensing. I’ve thought of doing that with some other people I’ve photographed, but it never occurred to me to make myself the character………hmmm….could I be the next Dilbert?

End of Day One of painting.

End of Day Two painting. Okay, it looks more realistic, but I hate the blue background. Think it deadens the entire painting. Orange isn’t  my favorite color, but it really seems to liven up the background. Day One I was looking straight ahead. Day Two may eyes seem to be glancing off to the left.

But does the painting really look like me? The more I try to make the expression on my painted face look whimsical….the more my face just looks scrunched up between my hands.  I think that’s because I’ve made the shadows on my face too dark. I don’t know if this blog will ever help anyone else with their painting, but it sure is helping me. For some reason I can see things more clearly when I see them in a photograph on the computer screen. When I’m in my studio painting all day I can’t always see what I’m doing. But if I sit in an easy chair and have a snack….and glance at the painting…then I can see the mistakes. Just relax….let your mind flow….and WHAM !!! Suddenly it comes to you.

Today I decided to start a 2nd 16×20″ painting that I plan to make into a greeting card. I figured that way I’d be able to paint on two small paintings at once, since most of it will be glazing. The basis for the painting is this self portrait I took about 6 months ago:

Hmmmm….I look quite a bit younger in this photo and I only took it a few months ago. Either 1) stress is killing me – and not so slowly, at that – or 2) I look better and younger with longer hair or 3) the lighting in my bathroom is very very flattering. Probably it’s a combination of all three, but I’m going to grow out my hair again just in case that’s it. I love the convenience of inch long hair, but I have to admit – it isn’t very flattering on me.

I mixed up values of burnt umber and titanium white – this time I only mixed up nine values. It’s really easy to mix up a lot more, but it does use up an awful lot of paint.

And this is what it looked like at the end of the day – not yet complete, but I’m off to a good start. Originally I was going to have the reference photo of myself under my right elbow, but at the last minute I chickened out and painted a container of medium over most of the photo. The photo would be so small and at a weird angle – I don’t know if I could paint it very well. Okay, I admit it – I paint much better LARGE.

And you’re probably wondering…..how is she going to use that photo in a greeting card? Well, my idea is to 1) on the front of the card have the painting and the words -Do You Think I Should Paint In The Wrinkles? and 2) some kind of verse like…..Wrinkles? What wrinkles? Happy Birthday to someone who doesn’t look a day older. I want to make the kind of greeting cards that I’d like to buy – ones with actual painting on the front versus line drawings or funny photos. And I want the paintings to be of REAL PEOPLE. Real Characters. I just hope that there are like minded people out there who would actually buy the cards. And send them.

I’ve really enjoyed just painting for the last two days, but I know I’m doing it to avoid making business phone calls. I really have to force myself to make some calls to stores in Chicago to see if they’ll carry my ABC’s of Chicago poster and notecards. We have several thousand $$$$ invested in the printing and I can’t let them just sit in my studio gathering dust. This is why I finally quit my jobs in sales – call reluctance.