Taking a Bit of a Break

Since getting the flu almost three weeks ago, I have been unable to really bounce back.  It has become a cold and settled into my chest.  Now, it has worsened and I had to cancel my open studio today.  I am in bed with my laptop and trying to keep the day from being a total loss.  I think I need a few days just to eat chicken soup, drink some hot tea and shake whatever this is that I have going on.  Our friend has told us that his doctor said all the nursing homes up here are emptied out, most of the residents needing hospital care and that this flu lingers for four weeks or more.  I can honestly say, I have never had a flu or cold that has knocked me down for so long.  I may move my painting into our spare bedroom tomorrow so that I can continue to work on it in a more comfortable setting.  Hopefully, I won't miss too many days of posting and progress on the Eledge portrait.

Revised Hand

I forgot to point out yesterday, that the hand which hangs over the edge of the chair, has now been enlarged a bit.  I paid a lot of attention to the area where the hand connects to the wrist, so that it looks like it recedes from the front of the hands at the knuckles.  I will keep the hands slightly darker than the face, since they are in an area that does not receive direct light other than on the tops, which would cause a bright highlight.  With just some light falling across them, they will not scream for attention and pull your eyes from looking at the center of attention, the face.

Hand Blocked In

I had decided that the hand draped over the chair arm was too small, so I have blocked it in a bit larger than the original sketch and increased the size of the chair arm. 

Next, I mixed up some flesh colors and made a more refined block in of the hand.  I have also indicated where the ring will be.  This is by no means a finished hand.  But, it is a good beginning, showing me the range of cool and warm colors as well as the lights and shadows.  I am happy with this so far.  But it could all go wonky at any time.  Now, on to the other hand.  No details allowed just yet!

Coat & Hand Changes

Warming up the studio this morning, I noticed from across the room that the hand I had sketched in, looked too small today.  Fresh eyes, always make the errors obvious to me.  I also felt that I needed to increase the arm of the sofa and the shadows at the back of his hips and thighs.  So I worked on those three items and now the foreshortening is correct, I think.  We shall see how I feel about it tomorrow.

Denim and Background

OK, so the sofa is a sickly color of  yellow/green.  This too shall be resolved down the road, but for now it covers the canvas and is pretty close to what was in my photo-shoot.  I will most likely tone it way down as I progress.  I am pretty satisfied with the denim jeans and will tweak them also as the painting progresses  to a finished state.
 Foreshortening is tricky.  If I look at my subject from one position in the room, the hip seems larger, but if I stand to the right and further back from the subject, things look entirely too small in the hip.  Now add to that, the fact that a camera shoots just what it sees without regard to human anatomy and you have a real confusing situation.  This is where a sound knowledge of human anatomy is a must.  If you are going to paint figural works and portraits, then studying from life is a must.  I have seen otherwise wonderful art that falls flat on its face simply because the artist did not know how arms join to the shoulder or connect at the elbow and therefore look like sausages hanging from the body.  Knowing how a hand connects to the wrist tells me that my one hand is a bit too small and is not dangling from the chair arm in a convincing manner.  Back to Drawing Board now!

Finishing up Jacket

I made great progress on the light blue shirt, deepening the details a bit more.  I will move on now and come back to it later to add more depth, detail and the buttons.  Really pushed myself to get that arm resting on the leg to a greater degree of complete.  I used Alizarin Crimson mixed into the Ivory Black to deepen the look of a dark velvety black.  Unfortunately, Ivory Black is such a flat color and then when it dries, it becomes even more flat and ugly.  I often will use any of the following transparent colors to liven up and make the Ivory Black richer looking; French Ultramarine Blue, Dioxazine Purple, Alizarin Crimson or Sap Green.  On some occasions, I will skip the Ivory Black totally and just mix my own black from those transparent colors.  Now, that's a beautiful black!
You can really see in this photo, the background scumbling I have done so that I could soften the jacket and hair edges.  And last but not least, the sofa was a yucky yellow/gold color and so I took a few blobs of colors left on my palette at the end of this session and just smeared them onto the canvas.  Did I mention, the blank canvas bugs me?  I must get that leg and those hands started ASAP.

Git Er Done

Back to work with fresh eyes today, I immediately began laying in the shirt and jacket.  I can't stand that blank canvas showing.  Its really got to go, so lets Git Er Done.  Used Titanium White and Cobalt Blue with touches of Alizarin Crimson and some Ivory Black in the shirt.  Ivory Black, Alizarin Crimson and French Ultramarine for the jacket.  As I worked on the shoulder of the jacket, I mixed some background color to scumble onto the background at the edges where the jacket and hair meet the background.  I then took a soft brush, I like a watercolor or oil sable brush, to softly blend the two edges together to create some lost edges.  I will do this throughout the painting as I come to areas that should recede. 
I am forcing myself to not touch the face today.....I am trying to not let myself nitpic the details too soon.