Vickie, one and two.

[Debra Jones]

Summer. Hot. But the open studios in the afternoon on Monday are all I have for live bodies. I did Vickie last week because I was craving fleshtones. I have been working like a fiend on fur and from photos and a heated debate among some cyber friends prompted me to try out the concept of Optical Reds. I can't actually define how I am doing it, but I think the idea is to use red in transitional edges to boost the energy of them.

Vickie was the model last week and I was just stymied by her ashy gray-yellow skin. I have not done her justice in the five or six times I did her. Very tonal. Not much else.

Then I did the optical red idea and was very very happy. There is a close up and I don't know how these will load, but you will get the idea.

[Linda Brandon]

Hi Debra,

You have some wonderfully energetic portraits here. Great job!

By 'optical red' do you mean putting red along the edge that meets the background? The only discussion of optical red I've read involved a dark background and a very thin, orange-red line along the section of unshadowed skin that meets the background. I think the idea was to show some slight glow of energy around the body and how flesh reacts to being lit up.

[Debra Jones]

You and me! That is what I actually see and understand and am able to really apply the actual concept to a visual reality I observe. The technique, apparently, can be applied in a number of ways as not just to skin, to give more energy to any edge. In a more arbitrary application, it is a lively delineator for shapes you want to jazz up.

I observe, like you do, the warmth at the edge and tried to describe it in my own knowledge, as the same red we see with the flashlight and our hand, the glow in the ears, the thin vessels becoming more apparent as the skin turns. I never purposely applied the concept as a strategy until this piece. The real difference was the headset I used of asking myself, at each turn, when looking for a color: "could it be red?" I even used it in the green, a stroke now and then of alizarin, and it worked! It didn't seem arbitrary when used more logically, but making the choices to use red, seemed to make this woman, who has always challenged me, come to life.

It seriously may just be me! I have not had time to try a second painting from scratch to plan along these lines.

[Linda Brandon]

Originally Posted by Debra Jones

I have been working like a fiend on fur and from photos ...

By the way, Debra, I've been painting dogs lately too, and if you haven't seen this book you must get it: "Dogs", by Rein Poortvliet, linked here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...704219-8255935

Poortvliet is a superb illustrator and takes obvious delight in his excellent dog paintings. I see that Amazon has it for around $13 (used for less than ten dollars) and it's an terrific buy.

[Sharon Knettell]

Very juicy, very gutsy. I just love these!

There is nothing better than a live breathing model, unless it is a check for a painting of one!

[Debra Jones]

I am going to print that out and hang it on my wall.

Sums up the problems of the last month in a clean little nutshell. And gave me a head-throwing, throat and mind clearing laugh!
Thanks!

[Chris Saper]

Debra,

It is always such a pleasure to see your work!