Studies of the old masters

Over the last few weeks, I have started working through a series of studies focusing on some of my favourite portrait paintings.

They have included old masters such as Charles Willson Peale, Bartolomeo Schedoni, Jan Van Bijlert, Jan Lievens and  Govert Flinck.

This week I tackled Peder Severin Kroyers portrait of Michael Ancher.

It's been a great experience getting up close and personal to these old paintings and something that I will continue doing for the foreseeable future.

As I flick through my sketchbook, I feel like a have captured a little bit of magic in its pages thanks to the lessons of these great painters.

Graphite and white charcoal drawings

I was in art supplies store recently and purchased a toned paper sketchbook and some white charcoal pencils.

I really like the contrasts you can get with graphite pencils and white charcoal. So I sat down on the weekend and came up with these two drawings.

Where it all began.

I first really started enjoying drawing when I was a child reading Asterix and Obelix. Uderzo was my childhood hero. I spent countless hours reading and admiring the drawings. Thank you for the inspiration Uderzo.

Drawing practice.

With my continued focus on portrait painting this year, I've started a series of graphite drawings to help me with my tonal range and practice drawing the human face.
I think the extra practice will help me get closer to my goal of painting better portraits.

Cosmo Kramer

Mr Bean

Bearded Man

Heisenberg

Focus on portraits for 2019

It has been way too long between posts. I have continued painting and drawing over the last several years but not as consistently as I would like. This year I am hoping to change that and spend more time on my journey to art.
In particular, I want to improve my portrait drawings and paintings.
I've only painted a handful of portraits so I have a lot to learn.
At the bottom is my very first portrait that I painted back in 2010. The photo below is my recent painting of my late father. I would like to revisit at the end of the year and gauge my progress. I wish dad was here to see my progress.

My fourth portrait 2019

Way back in 2010, my first portrait.

Ode to Eugene

This is a small practice run, an inspiration from Eugene Von Guérard. It is painted oils on stretched canvas (30cmx40cm).

I want to turn this into a large piece 36"x24" but want to improve on a few things. Your constructive criticism is most welcomed.

I worked on simplifying Eugene’s composition but I hope I haven’t ruined the composition in the process. The proportions of the houses, sheep and man at the fence need tweaking to get them right.

4"x4" Acrylics Study

The girls and I had an craft afternoon and we did some painting. This was my little study on 4"x4" canvas board done in acrylics. I haven't painted with acrylics much in the past so this was a little challenging but fun.