A different kind of portrait - Oil painting by @mayasky
Hello and good day to you all!
I hope this monday is treating you all well and that you're off to a good start to the new week ahead.
In a couple of days I am off to London to attend the opening of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 206th Exhibition where I have a couple of my paintings being exhibited.
If you want to check out the paintings I am showing and a bit about the show, here's a post I wrote about it;
https://steemit.com/art/@mayasky/my-paintings-got-trough-the-final-round-of-judging-and-will-be-exhibited-in-london-3-d
I am super excited!
Not just about the show, but about going to London, a city that has so much culture and fun to offer, and also to meet up with my family from Norway which I haven't seen in a few months now.
The past few days have been quite busy with Easter meetups and missions of different kinds though, so the next couple of days I will make an effort to relax a bit before my London adventure begins.
Because of this today I am not sharing new work, but a painting painted some time ago in Norway.
''Anna with yellow shirt'', oil on panel, size 20 x 30 cm.
This painting was painted during an experimental phase where I went through different ways of building up the values, texture and form in a portrait.
I also experimented a lot with the quality of underpainting in this portrait. I've always loved when painters are able to use their initial underpainting to show through in a finished painting and seem like its a natural part of the product. That, or when it creates a cool designed effect that you think of as a clever and interesting addition.
Well, honestly, heheh, I think my painting is far from the way I would like it to be, but it was a fun experiment as it's something I've always liked in other people paintings but never tried much in my own.
Will I try it again? ...Yes, probably! And hopefully it will look alot better, but I thought I would share this process with you anyways. Sometimes it can be important and educational to see less successful works as well as the more so.
Here are some process photos!
Why don't you like it? You might ask..
Well, the main reason is that I went in with a n underpainting color that was way too warm. It makes her skin look very white even though I went in with skin mixtures with a high chroma.. I do remember considering waiting for the paint to dry and then go in with some glazing to bring up the color in her face, but that never happened.
All in all I think I spent around 2 hours on this portrait and to be honest, that was enough, haha!
When all that is said though, I am happy I made this painting, because I DID learn a lot! :)
I find that's usually the way isn't it? You learn from your mistakes which is why I do try to treasure them as well, even though it can be hard at times.
Like one of my favorite painters said so well;
'' We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.''
Bob Ross.
And with that I wish you all a wonderful and creative week!
<3
I was thinking today about your portraits and unselfish showing work process with color information. And since we are entering good weather and I can leave my window open for fresh air, you got me thinking to go back to oil painting. And also, I will use your posts as a guide @mayasky. Thank you again for giving me ''kick'' :)
Aww, I am so happy to hear @jungwatercolor! :D Can't wait to see what your oils will look like <3
![princ_75px_0rap_principal_grande (1).jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmazRcA3rVPi8qZwMJFGWFu7aHM1t2H22kzLTJhU3wKbMa/princ_75px_0rap_principal_grande%20(1).jpg)
I can give you a tip if you don't want to use turpentines and other solvents for paint medium+ cleaning! I just started using the medium + cleaner from Sennelier called Green for Oil, and it is 100% non tocix and doesn't smell at all! I am very happy with it;
O thank you for the tip, I am using regular turpentine and it's killing me. I will look for this one or some other brand, not sure if anyone is importing Sennelier here :(
I can imagine! It really is the worst! :( So happy that there are all these new non toxic options now 😊
Oh wow didn't know we already have this thing! THank you for sharing! I was thinking to switch to acrylic because I don't have an open space studio and the smell of oil is really bad. Might as well try that, hopefully they ship to my country.
Hi @hiddenblade! Yes, this stuff is amazing! It totally changed oil painting for me. I have my studio in my apartment and I don't think it would have been possible for so long without "going green" 😆😉
Hmmm... I'll have to see if Boesner stock it. My paint cleaner is quite toxic.
Yes, do @leoplaw! 😉 If not I know there are a few good brush cleaning soaps out there as well, non toxic.
The nasty toxic stuff is quicker and gets the job done. I don't have to leave my palette.
Wow, great painting. I like the technique with which you built the tones. Maybe I'll go into oils too someday
It really looks pretty amazing and by the way all the very best for the show ;)
Thank you so much for your compliment and we'll wishes @rehan12! 😊
Gr8 job! Museum level quality. Resteemed.
Aw, thank you so much @invariable.muse! I appreciate it! :)
I don't care what you think, I find it a beautiful painting! :) I'm of course far from being an expert haha. Are you planning to write about the exhibition?
Heheh, thank you @michelmake! So nice of you to say! Yes! I will for sure do a post when I come back about the show! :)
WOW! Wonderful! You made it perfect!!!!!
Thank you @carolineschell!! 😊😘
Nothing! It's true :-D!!!!
You are amazingly good! Love it! Where do you live??
Thank you very much @art-universe! :) That's very kind. I live in Portugal :D
Very fascinating process, especially the lessons that you learn from your experimentation.
Thanks to @josephsavage, this post was resteemed and highlighted in today's edition of The Daily Sneak.
Thank you for your efforts to create quality content!
Thank you so very much @sneakyninja! 😍 And thank you @josephsavage! It's my pleasure!
This is beautiful, thank you for sharing the process!