Understanding my painting process

I've come to realize that I need at least three hours of dedicated painting time per studio session.  My process seems to be that during the first two hours, I make a mess.  In the last hour, I fix the mess and move forward.  

I stopped working on this portrait months ago because I found myself only making a mess, never having that third hour to fix and improve things.

Today I had a good chunk of time in the studio and believe me, I made a mess.  But I also made some progress.  It is closer than ever to complete.

Scroll down to view several stages of the portrait and the source image.

Isabella, oil on board, portrait commission in progress. 1/1/2013

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Isabella, oil on board, portrait commission in progress. 12/31/2013

Isabella, oil on board, portrait commission in progress. 4/30/2013

A Portrait in Progress (Part 2)

More images of the portrait in progress.  It can be very helpful to compare where you are to where you've been.  How does that Paul Abdul song go?  Two steps forward?  One step back?

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​Lara Hoke, Portrait in Progress

A Portrait in Progress (Part 1)

I'm working on a commissioned portrait of a young girl with a butterfly resting on her wrist.  I'm capturing the day by day transformation of the piece.  Below is the portrait from initial sketch to underpainting to somewhat more developed painting.

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​Lara Hoke, portrait in progress

It is done!

Bob and Mary Galvin, Illinois Institute of Technology, Lara HokeFor the past several months I have been working on a portrait commission for the Illinois Institute of Technology.  It was, at times, a struggle but I am excited to annouce that it is done and has been installed in its new home at the Paul V. Galvin Library at IIT.  To the right is the final portrait and a shot from the unveiling.

For better images of the portrait, please visit my Portraiture page.

Cheers!

Another Technique for Refining a Portrait

Many artists project the source image on canvas and trace the outlines.  In my portrait work, I've found this approach to be helpful when working in the dry, precise medium of graphite.  However, it is totally useless when I work in oil.  My painting process involves loose application of paint, blending, wiping, and reapplication of paint.  If I traced the image, it would be like painting between the lines or color by number.  The painting would have no life of its own.

In addition to overlaying the in-progress portrait over the source photo (see the previous post), I've started outlining the source photo in Photoshop and overlaying the drawn outline over a photo of the painting in progress.

Original with Line Overlay, Painting, Painting with Overlay