Phew, I have finally finished my version of a Jean-Baptiste Greuze painting, “The White Hat”. I started this way back in June of 2009, and finished it in late February 2010. This is oil on canvas.

The White Hat - after Greuze, by Airn LeBus. Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches, 2010.

The White Hat - after Greuze (detail)

I’m not sure if there was an issue with my original drawing or if something happened whilst painting, but I started to realize the facial features were really out of place and spent the last several sessions altering and moving things around, even completely painting over an eye that had been nearly finished. It was difficult but I’m glad I changed it because it looks much better now.

I used a direct technique, no underpainting…the paint is pretty thin, and very matte/non-glossy at this point (I might oil it out and/or varnish it later). If I were to do another painting in this vein, I might try painting more thickly, and with more contrast between the darks and lights. I do like the soft feel this has though, I think it works with the subject matter and color scheme.

I had some difficulties with the source photo I used, it seemed inaccurate contrast-wise and was missing a lot of detail that I had to try and “make up” or guess. The hat and clothing and stuff was also kind of difficult to figure out from the photo, and I tried to do my own version of some of it but really at my skill level should have probably just stuck to what Greuze had done. In any case I am happy with the overall results and definitely learned a lot and have a nice painting to hang on my wall.

The total time I spent on painting only was about 24 hours, usually in 1.5-hour sessions. In addition to that there was the drawing, preparing the canvas, transferring the drawing, and stuff like trying to figure out how to fix the features when they were awry (which took a pretty good chunk of time).

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I finished this small painting of Lila Lee from the film Lemora a few days ago. The actress Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith played the part in the movie.

I started this in September of last year, working on it pretty infrequently; only about 8 sessions of painting over a six-month period. I always have a lot of projects going at once…

Here’s the finished painting:

"Lila Lee" by Airn LeBus. Oil on wood panel, 2.5 x 3 inches, 2010.

Initially I was going to paint this with a raw umber dead layer underpainting and glaze color over it, but it was looking too dark and I liked the way it was already, so I just added some color to it and left it as-is.

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I think this is almost done, but I’m not sure. I might decide to make some fairly major changes, I am still debating.

Greuze White Hat study work in progress

*Update 02-14-10: I did decide to make some big changes, and altered the nose, mouth, and other stuff. Here’s the current stage of the painting, maybe it’s really almost done this time:

White Hat study - work in progress 02-13-10

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OK, I changed major stuff on this painting and it’s done for real now. I based her new face a bit on Lila Lee, i.e. Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith in the film Lemora.

This isn’t the last oil painting based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that I’ll be doing, I would love to do another dark-ish one, perhaps with her falling or with the caterpillar

Alice's Picnic in Wonderland

Here’s a detail of it:

Alice's Picnic in Wonderland (detail)

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Still working on my Greuze study, The White Hat. Here’s where I am after tonight’s session:

White Hat WIP 12-29-09

This is the biggest painting I have done so far, but it’s still only 16×20 inches. Maybe I am fairly close to wrapping this one up? This has progressed pretty speedily…I think I have spent about 12 hours on this, not counting the drawing part.

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Hexenring linocut

I finished my first linocut, it’s of a ‘fairy circle’ or toadstool ring around a grave. In German it’s called a hexenring.

This is 4×5 inches. Linocuts are pretty interesting stuffs, you have to carve everything into the linoleum block in reverse, and then roll ink onto it and imprint on paper. I drew it all on the block directly in pencil, then pen, and then used a few different tools to carve it out. It took a long time :). I will probably do another one, but will either work larger or a bit less detailed…I tried to cram too much detail than is possible with the normal linocut tools so I had to scratch stuff out with a tool designed for scratchboard, which was kind of a pain. Still fun overall, and I like the old medieval feel of the process, like you are practicing an art form that is very old.

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Here’s the most recent version of my Lila Lee painting:

Lila Lee WIP 12-13-09

By the way, if you notice a similarity between this and my new version of Alice’s Picnic in Wonderland, that’s ’cause I used the same person (Cheryl ‘Rainbeaux’ Smith) as inspiration for my Alice redo…I thought she totally fit the bill of Alice

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I’m changing my Alice in Wonderland painting. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

Alice in Wonderland redo - work in progress 12-13-09

I’m also going back and changing some other stuff, like my Bouguereau piece.

*Update 12-13-09:  I updated the photo in this post with the most recent version.

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I’m currently working on my third miniature portrait…this time it’s Lila Lee from the film Lemora. The actress who portrayed her was the late Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith.

Lila Lee from Lemora

This is oil on wood panel and I’m painting the face in a raw umber dead layer but using color on most other stuff. I will glaze over the monochromatic underpainting once I think it looks correct.

I’m also using her as a reference to re-paint the face on my recent Alice in Wonderland painting…she is perfect for Alice!

Oh, here is the initial drawing I did for this…it’s unfinished:

lila-drawing

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I finished my oil painting portrait of Brother Cadfael. This is based on the excellent show starring Sir Derek Jacobi…it’s a favorite of mine. I started this painting in late March of this year and spent about 24 hours on it over 6 months (including the initial sketch).

To see all 3 posts about this painting, search for ‘cadfael’ then click a post.

Here are photos of the painting both framed and unframed:

Brother Cadfael by Airn LeBus, 8x10 inches, oil on panel, 2009.

Brother Cadfael by Airn LeBus, 8x10 inches, oil on panel, 2009.

I used my current standard technique of making a photocopy of my original drawing so that it will stay intact when I transfer it onto the panel or canvas. I then transferred it by rubbing the back of the photocopy with soft 4B pencil and tracing over it with a pen onto the panel. I then used a fine sharpie over that (on the panel). I put a transparent imprimatura over it to seal it, wash away the pencil, and give some interesting brushstrokes in the background which may show through a bit later.

Next I painted the face as a “dead layer” with just raw umber and white, over many sessions. Once I was mostly satisfied with that I started glazing transparent color over the face. I also added more opaque parts and highlights, and fixed a few things with the features…although they are still a bit off, I settled with the look of it. The hair and robe/cowl were more directly painted but still with some glazing.

Regrettably, I didn’t plan the inscription out  properly so it took a while to figure out how to arrange it, what to put, and to actually paint it.  It took a few sessions…I used paintings by Albrecht Durer and Hans Holbein the Younger as inspirations for the inscription look and feel. I wrote Cadfael’s full name, “Cadfael ap [son of] Meilyr ap Dafydd” and my little symbol of a cross, eye, crown, and initials ARL. I find that painting text, especially when there is no initial drawing or guide, to be quite difficult…but I enjoy the challenge. Compared to plopping on some text in Photoshop on some digital art, it’s like the contrast between walking into a store and buying a shirt vs. cutting the cloth, designing, and sewing one yourself

I put it in a dark , sturdy, and somewhat simple frame which fits well with the Benedictine nature of Cadfael. I also had played with having his gaze pointed at the viewer but it seemed to fit him better to have him looking off to the side. Pretty happy with this one…overall the mood and look are what I was going for.

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