Zoom Model Session 3/3/2022
from a Cape Cod Art Studio with a live model - to my Colorado studio over Zoom!
Smiling Artist - 12 x 16 Acrylic on canvas pad
©2022 Joyce Mihran Turley
How I do it:
Screenshots captured from 3-hour session
Final rendering is a combination of slightly different poses as the model takes breaks and sits again - I select the hand and arm from one, the crossed legs from another. I use Photoshop to adjust the levels so I can see into the darkest areas of the fabric folds. I'm fortunate to catch a spontaneous smile as the model responds to a comment from an artist painting live in the studio...
I post my painting after the 3-hour session is complete on the group's Facebook page - this helps me see the spontaneity and life captured while painting quickly. Also lets me critique my work along with the other participants. I've captured something I like here but hmmm...looks more like a caricature than a portrait to me!
I turn to my digital tools to help me revise the painting after the session is over. Using Photoshop to compare my painting to one of the poses, I draw line art over the painting to guide my edits. Sometimes I use the digital paintbrush to experiment with changes I plan to make. While this might be considered cheating for a fine artist, I consider it part of training my eye to make live corrections in future studio sessions.
From 3-hour Original to Final...
Other Lessons to share:
• I was always taught to never use black in my paintings - that it will look dead. But illustrating for print, and knowing the artwork is reproduced with CMYK inks, I feel black(K) is an equally important component of my work. I experimented with using #liquitex black gesso as a starting point for this portrait, and it works for me!
• I was also taught the most detailed areas of the painting should focus the viewer on the most important element. But again, as an illustrator, I like to use every square inch of an image to communicate and educate. Are the wrinkles in his sleeve as important as the wrinkles on his face, maybe not, but they support the same comfortable rhythm.
• I loved painting this model - can you tell?
