Janice

[Alexandra Tyng]

Jeff, I think Beth has hit on the problem: you have developed this so far that you might be afraid to ruin it (i.e. cover it up) by adding color. Actually I would be, too. The drawing becomes so awesomely detailed it's hard even to know how to apply paint. If this is indeed the problem, then it might be wise to preserve this as it is and develop a new piece, letting something slightly different emerge, even if you are working from the same pose.

Alex

[Chris Saper]

Dear Jeff,

I know it's not helpful to the 'color quest' to say this, but I think this is ready for a signature and frame. With a slide for a competition.

I think your drawing and edge control show a tremendous sophistication -

Great work.

[Jeff Fuchs]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone, but I'm afraid it's too late.

I tried to apply another layer of paint, hoping to at least complete a monochrome face (as opposed to the bare canvas for the light areas). It was awful, but at least the underpainting was dry enough that I could wipe it back down to the original work and try again. After failing and wiping it down about four times, it wasn't worth keeping anymore. It ended up in the trash.

But it's all a learning experience. I may switch to small still lifes for a while until I get the hang of handling paint. No point trying to paint a difficult subject in a difficult meduim if I don't have the basic skills.

Janice seems to have a busy weekend planned for me, so Monday evening I'll pull out a new canvas, pop in an audiobook, and see what I can do.

[Michele Rushworth]

I understand how you feel after getting input from so many instructional videotapes. A while back I was doing the same thing: classes from different instructors, videos from other teachers, books and online input from everyone else under the sun. My mind was a mush.

What worked for me was to choose the ONE instructor's method that seemed closest to my natural way of working and then paint that way. (For me it was Tony Ryder.) I still find myself incorporating suggestions here and there from everyone I ever learned from, but at least now I have a single methodology that I follow, a way to start and proceed with color.

You can learn a lot about paint handling and seeing color by doing still lifes. I think that's a great way to go. One way to get over your fear might be to make up a pile of 8x10 canvases and do one each day, even if all you have is an hour. Paint every gosh darned orange, apple and vase in the house!

I like the advice you've had here from others to start with a limited palette, when you do decide to attack portrait work in color. Rubens and many others are said to have done all their flesh tones with white, yellow ochre, Venetian red and black. That will take you a long way.

Good luck!

[Jeff Fuchs]

Michele, it's like you're reading my mind. Everything you said is right in line with what I plan to do. Problem is, I can't tell whose technique is compatible with mine by seeing the finished paintings. I need to watch the artist work to know if I can apply their methods to my work.

Fortunately, I have found a site that rents good videos, and I have Burton Silverman's "Jenny" DVD in the mail to me as we speak. I've also watched M. Weistling's (which I bought), and Scott Burdick's. If anything, my approach would be a hybrid of those two, but I'm still on such shaky ground, it's too hard to tell.

A while back, I came across two sheets of quarter inch cabinet grade plywood that had fallen off a truck. They were brand new, and sitting on the roadside. They've been in my way for too long, and they're about to become a collection of little paintings. If I were an accomplished painter, I might not take a chance painting on road kill of unknown origin or species, but it'll be good for practice, and to unclutter my workshop

I won't post the results here, as they won't be portaits, but hopefully the lessons learned will show up in my portrait work over time. There are people at my office who want portraits, and I'd like to do them in oils, but I don't know if I can. Regardless of the medium I use, I'll post the results here.

[Carol Norton]

There are people at my office who want portraits, and I'd like to do them in oils, but I don't know if I can. Regardless of the medium I use, I'll post the results here.

YES, JEFF, YOU CAN. Do your portraits in graphite or paint tonally if that is what you are comfortable with. I know and can see from your drawing that you CAN get the likeness. You have it, you can do it. Go for it. Your work will get better day by day, so don't despair. It really takes courage to put work "out there", but fear enslaves. Just do it.

PS The newest "hip" thing is black and white. Hmmmm. As in any trend, the pendulum will swing back. Right now, you could be "THE CUTTING EDGE!" Ha!

[Vianna Szabo]

Sorry to hear you had to trash that painting of your wife. It was really a stunning piece.

I have some advice that may help. I used this with a student and it seemed to help her over her color "block". It can be overwhelming to
face a value painting and not know where to go next. Also if a lot of canvas is showing then your initial strokes of light color will appear disorienting because they will read as dark against the light of the canvas.

Photograph your wife in the pose with the light on her. Open the photo in Adobe photo shop and correct it to appear as close to life as possible. Click on color picker and begin to scan over the portrait clicking on different areas of the face, hair, and background. You will begin to notice that there are only a few basic colors that make up the image. The light area of the flesh may be a grayed orange overall and the changes that occur in that grayed orange may be by warming or cooling, changing in value or intensity. That basic color and those sutble changes will turn the form. Identify a basic color for the shadow area of the flesh as well as the hair and the background. Mix the three or four basic colors that appear on your monitor. Use LOTS of paint. Plop them in the middle of the pallete with your cool colors on one side of these puddles, your warm colors on the other side, and a big worm of white on the end. At this point you can either have your wife sit for you or work from the photo. Using the "skin in light" puddle find areas that can be described perfectly by that color note and lay them down. Working from that point outward begin to read the form you are describing. For instance, you can begin to read the light area by saying to yourself, "the side of the nose is the basic gray orange color. The area next to it is the front of the nose, it is warmer and 1/2 step darker". You can then experiment by pulling some of your warm colors into the big main puddle and finding a match for what you see. If the area next to the top of the nose is cooler and lighter pull colors from the cool side as well as the white. Continue the read the figure in this manner utililizing the main puddles as the foundation for your painting. The beauty of using Adobe to initally identify the colors is that it helps take away the overwhelming "I don't know where to go with this" feeling. Your drawings and painting are very beautiful and I am sure you will find the way to creating great work in color. Michelle gave some great advice about still lives and doing a lot of little paintings of whatever is around you. Hope this helps.

Vianna
(spell check is not working for me so forgive the many spelling errors)