Back in the Studio

Wow! Last week was exceptionally busy, culminating in a three-day portrait painting workshop with Cincinnati artist Carin Hebenstreit and her husband, Bob.  Carin teaches the old masters style of portrait painting, which was a completely new style for me.  I was amazed with what I was able to accomplish in just three days. Since I wanted to experience the full benefit of the workshop, I chose to paint a copy of Vermeer's "Milkmaid." I wish I'd thought to photograph the painting in stages. But here's the nearly complete painting.  I plan on finishing it and hanging it here at home.   The photograph doesn't really do it justice, as I forgot to turn off the flash, so there's a little bit of glare and the colors are a bit washed out. I'll post another photograph of it when it's finished.

Also last week I finished the painting of my daughter's dog, Mollie, asleep on our end table. It's a small piece, an 8 x 10 acrylic. I wanted to portray the different effects the lamp had on the color of Mollie's fur. I think I got it... I call it "Knick Knack Mollie."

I'm also still working on the portrait of Charlie. This is in oils, and I have spent a lot of time working on the eyes. The eye on the right has been the most difficult because it's in shadow and in the reference photograph, you can't see much detail. I've also begun to add details to the nose and block in the fur. The lighting in my studio washes out the colors in the white fur--I'll try to get a better picture when the painting is finished.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day! I plan on celebrating with a nice dinner of corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread. Yum!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!