Martina & The Artist's Way
 

Oil on Strathmore board, 16" x 20".

As ubiquitous as this book may seem, I have to say that it truly helped me through a very dry spell in my artistic life. Martina acts as muse in this painting, for she, too was instrumental in getting me painting again. She was a fantastic model and an even better person.

Detail
 

She had unusually small hands and feet for a woman who stood 5'8".

Dear Rob,

This is a lovely portrait of your friend and inspiration as an artist. The fall of light down her back side is pleasing and honest in the way it describes her complex and subtly nuanced forms and structure. This well observed play of light feels natural, being sharper an brighter near the shoulder and more diminished and diffuse as it falls beneath. Nicely done! That book is perfect too.

Garth

Lovely painting, Rob, and how can you work so small?

One of the things I appreciate in paintings of nudes is a sense of gravity and weight in the body. This should happen in even a slight body as is the case in your friend Martina. You've done a nice job here, especially in the arms, giving the viewer the impression that you have really observed this woman. Thanks for posting this.

Rob,

What a lovely and graceful figure.
I hate to point out specific parts of anatomy, but her derriere is really beautifully realized.

Thank you for this wonderful and classy addition to this nascent thread.

Wow, Rob! I love the way you resolved the lighted back.
BTW, how did you prepare the board?

Maria

Nice solid figure Rob, I like the gradation to the light.

Out of all the works I've created thus far, this one is in the top 5 for most meaningful. That being said, I really, really appreciate the positive reactions to this piece. Thank you!

Garth - I can barely comprehend the level upon which you work, the quality is so high. A compliment from you on my work is more gratifying and inspiring that you could know. I have to thank this evil typography teacher for pounding into my head the importance of type and rendering it by hand - thus the book came out well.

Linda - I know how you feel about female nudes and the respect with which they should be portrayed. The fact that you can see how I've striven for that in this painting makes me feel that I did what I'd set out to do. Martina is a very real woman; a natural German beauty. She maintains her own farm and is fit by virtue of hard physical labor (you can just see this by looking at the musculature of her back). For a long time, as an illustrator, my job was to over-idealize portraits and figures to make products, books, etc. more salable. With Martina, I was finally able to paint a beautiful figure by staying closer to the truth.
Oh - and this painting started off more like a study, but turned into something more - thus the size. And I really love my Raphael 8404 #3 rounds. You can get pretty tiny with those!

Sharon - "Classy!" A wonderful compliment to my painting, though it's something I've never been accused of personally :D . Hee hee.
Believe it or not ;) , I spent less time working on her posterior than her back. But, I did recognize how her curves are a nice foil to her strong back, so I tried to represent that femininity accurately.

Maria - Thank you! With regard to the Strathmore board: I used 5 thin coats of gesso on both sides (prevents warping). It's cold pressed board, so it has a nice, grabby tooth to it.

Carl - Many thanks. I have to admit that the lighting setup was something less-than-professional. I had a mud lamp with a 300w bulb strafing the scene. My old studio was a finished attic, so the angled ceiling cast a gradating reflected light (you can see how it's strong on her face, but diminishes by the time it gets to her right leg). There was this "hot spot" in the middle of the bulb, too - so I had to angle the light just so every session. One day, I'll have the right equipment *sigh*.