Friday

I'm just now getting in my studio and it's late afternoon. Having been gone last weekend, I missed cleaning the house and it was starting to really bug me.  I was feeling so tired yesterday, as I mentioned, and the last thing I want is to get anxious or sick of doing my little eye studies so I decided to take the day off and do some housework and shopping and such.  I feel the need to work on a figure painting and I've got just the image in mind.  I think I will do an homage to my favorite figure painter, Stephen Early. Last week, in my figure drawing group at the other studio, I did a nice sketch of Eric (one of my favorite models.)  He was leaning against the wall but resisting it so his muscles were engaged as you can see from the sketch.  I will dabble on it this weekend and maybe paint in earnest on Monday.  Hope you enjoy it!

Only What The Body Allows

Somedays, like this one, I can only do so much. I stayed up too late two nights in a row and am too weary to finish my painting. But I DID start one:

I will have to let it firm up a little, too. I started with too wet of a ground and it was mixing with my paint instead of providing a surface. We are going on a working retreat weekend, leaving in the morning, so I am forced to set my work aside for a few days. I am sure it will be good for me. Plus, I'll have the chance to get some source photos for more eye portraits!  Have a great weekend, folks.  

Eye to Eye

I can't get over the sense that using the iPad is cheating.  Not that artists haven't always used aids to help them achieve the desired accuracy or to simplify the process, as we all know. The camera was developed as a tool for artists.  Lately I've had a much harder time painting from life.  Maybe because I can't get the result I'm seeking, now that I've begun to rely on the aid of my retinal display iPad. But I think it's a two-fold problem: my eyes are weakening and so is my brain.  It's harder to decipher visual elements than it used to be.  In an almost overwhelming task processing the immensity of visual information, my poor ole brain fights it... gets tired quicker.  I just love painting with the display up close to my work, being able to zoom in for the detail that I need.  Maybe I'll just learn to love what I'm doing and leave the purity question for someone else!

Today's POD is my own eye.  Hope you enjoy it!

8 X 10" oil on panel
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/christy-sawyer/eye-to-eye/153350

Beauty is in the Eye

Today's work is Sarina, the sister of my subject yesterday.  Their eyes are very similar.  This is the first time in this series I've painted an eye with make-up.  I found it challenging.  I'm not entirely pleased with some of the color but not unhappy over all.  I do miss painting wrinkles, though, and I will paint some next.  I don't want to over paint but young skin has to be so much smoother and transparent so I tend to blend more. With wrinkles I can hatch and splotch and dab to my heart's content. I guess I need that to stay fresh and original in this series.  I hope you enjoy it.

Into the Light

Today's painting is of my model/friend, Kendra. The source photo was taken by her daughter, Zinnia.  I tried to keep the lightest lights pure and bright. I worked from a light mauve-tinted panel and I think that helped me keep my vision adjusted to the high values.  I hope you enjoy it!

About Face

I suddenly realized I have only painted left eyes in this series!  So, today I remedy that situation.  This is my son, Ben's, right eye. This eye reflects the world around it, just as his work does. Ben is an amazing illustrator and comic artist.  His 'eye' is fantastic.  He sees what I have never seen.  And he encourages me to pursue this dream of painting.   Ironically, Ben's name means, "son of my right hand." Thanks, Ben, son of my right eye.

What Matters Most

I am so taken by these eyes that I wonder if I'll ever get tired of them.  Of course I will, but think what they have to offer: lots of color, reflections, subtleties, and drama.  Today I started from a darkly stained panel.  I thought I might have really set myself up for failure.  I usually start with a mid-toned canvas or panel so this was intimidating.  What this did was set the tone for the finished painting.  Although this really wasn't a terribly dark photo source, the outcome is very Rembrandt-like, dark and moody.  I hope you enjoy it.

Looking Askance

Something about these extreme close-up paintings make me a little uncomfortable, awkward, shy, almost.  I wonder if it is that the eye, as they say, is the window to the soul.  We all know that it's "impolite to stare."  So we have been taught by our society to avoid the direct gaze, yet, here I have invited the viewer to stare into the almost naked eye.  The skin tones, too, seem vulnerable, as if the viewer has gotten too close, almost behind a facade, to the barest of skin.

So, for today's POD, I've turned the subject (dear old Timmer) aside so that we don't have to look so directly into his soul.  Yet, for all that, it still seems intimate and almost invasive.  Hope you enjoy it.

Going Going.....

My brain is getting lazy but I think part of it is that the eyes are going soft!  I am having such a wonderful time using the iPad to zoom in on my subject and placing it close to my easel.  I have to fight off the desire to say this is 'cheating.' I've been trying to improve my skill in painting from life but this opportunity to work from the  high resolution display of the iPad is just drawing me in! I used my Nikon D40 to take the source photo.  I shot it in RAW format and converted it to TIFF.  It is just a stunning photo on it's own merits.

Here is my POD, once again, of Tim's eye. I hope you enjoy it.