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Paintings
Tea Time Portrait

Looking Glass Falls

Here's a recent oil portrait. You can see the original at "Three Little Fishies", HWY 70 in New Bern

Thanks to Joel Smith of
m3 Consulting & Services who does so much to assist my design and CSS dilemas. I'd still be using tables (and be a little less batty) if not for him. Joel and Christian are amazing people with terrific knowledge and skill in many many software and graphic programs. Christian is a FileMaker 7 Certified Developer and a member the FileMaker Solutions Alliance. Joel is a Apple Certified Technical Coordinator as well as a Apple Certified Help Desk Technician. His memberships include: Apple Consultants Network, FileMaker Solutions Alliance, Dantz Partners Program (for Retrospect backup software), and the International Quicktime VR Association (IQTVRA)

Tea Time Table

Originally, I conceived of this portrait with the girls before one of those cast iron decorative tables painted a flat white. I even used that type of table in an early color study. Instead you can now see a small wicker table with a few curlycues and braces, which I like much better as it has complimentary texture and color. Wicker can be bleached, pickled, painted, freshly lacquered, weathered, --all sorts of finishes and colors. I remember seeing a Sargent painting a few years ago at a special exhibit of his work at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The picture was one of his portraits of Robert Louis Stevenson and Sargent's brushwork and color choice for the wicker chair was simply stunning ( you can see it here at a wonderful web site http://www.artrenewal.com/asp/database/image.asp?id=2078). Sometimes extreme colors work out to be great choices, and Sargent's colors used on Stevenson's chair are amazing.

I've experimented with my wicker table having some brighter colors and I intend to conclude it with more color than you see it having now. But I think the table already has nice lines, balance, and texture --and is a good support for the cup and saucers, and something that because of the roundness and sweeping leg design leads one easily into the upper bodies and faces of the children. It serves almost as a framing device, too. I want the eye of the viewer to travel around the painting and keep coming back through all the elements of the composition without getting stuck, and I think this table suits and assists that desire.

I'm still working on the feet, shadows, dresses --all sorts of little touches that are beginning to add up. I like what is happening here and feel really good about this portrait. The girls' mother stopped by last week and she likes it too!

I expect to begin working with the background this coming week. There are several options I'm entertaining. I hope you'll keep an eye on what is changing in "Tea Time".

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NEW Tea Pot at Tea Time

Mom agrees and the pot has already been changed! This looks much better. The general shape of the new pot is an overpainting covering the scraped pot. I'm not trying to complete it now but permit a future painting session that will have a good base to work over. At this point there isn't any indication the old pot ever existed. The canvas was cleaned of thick daubs of paint and the new paint covers any previous lines or colors. I've reworked a bit of the hair and clothes too. The lighting is a little bright on the left side but it indicates how colorful this canvas is and will be in the finished state.

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Tea Pot at Tea Time

Oh well, it looked like it would work out, but using this particular tea pot isn't something I'm happy about. It is a Disney brand pot with images of Snow White and Cinderella ( I think), and though it is what the girls used in their make-believe, I find it way too distracting --too domineering! After all, what is the subject of this painting? Certainly NOT the pot! I don't want anything to distract from these beautiful children. So I'm going to scrape this pot off, reduce the size a bit, and go with a classic design for a tea pot that won't command our attention or ruin the painting. I hope the clients are like minded. I gave it a shot. And this looks pretty good, that is, it's a nice picture of the pot. Easy come --easy go.

I don't need a cease and desist order from a large corporation anyway!

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Tea Time Update

Big sister has emerged and she is looking great. I'm trying to control the lighting and keep her features clear but not too pronounced because of highlights. Her dress is on the beige side of white with very shiny ribbon and these will be fun to do. The hair is too light but I'm very happy with the way it falls and frames her face --it has a little narrowing effect. The angles of her arms and the intensity of the act of pouring the "tea" is very engaging in this portrait.

I'm hoping to get a bit more done on the girls this weekend. By the way, the little one is much improved --wait 'til you see.

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Tea Time Portrait Update

Here you have a detail of "Tea Time" and my progress made on the youngest child. Of course, this portrait will have quite a few adjustments, but I'm pleased with the steps I made Friday morning and afternoon. I'm raring to get to work on the other girl's image today and might post something concerning that Tuesday.

I like how this child is looking at her sibling --she has that admiration of a younger child for big sister, who knows how to do all the special things that make life fun and exciting --such as a tea party. Watching the girls as they had an established custom and order for 'tea' was fascinating. I think this will be a great theme to adopt in future portraits. Wait until you see the carefully cradled pot and arms/hands of this girl.

One of the things I'm aware of in this picture is my white point, to use a colorimetric or photographic term. What I mean is my desire to almost eliminate the pure tube white and use a subtle light cream color as my "white" and use this in all my mixing to produce the other colors. Already I can see advantages, but this is one of the things I "know" but forget --do you have any of those things? I'm sure this painting will be lovely, as I'm pretty thrilled with the progress, the images, the expressions, background, colors --shall I go on?

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A New Portrait Start

Sometimes I hesitate to work in the public or to show what I'm doing because people get the wrong idea. All I can say in reaction is, "I haven't signed it yet!" I'm just getting started on this finihed portrait. In this case, after working up sketches and a half-size digital mockup, painting a small color study, and pondering the images and ideas for a substantial amount of time, I made this 30X40 inch oil under-painting, of which, I am pretty jazzed. You can't really see it at this level, but the basic shapes are well defined, hidden under all that color. I've mentioned in earlier articles, that I need to paint over paint --so the under-painting is a wonderful base that almost disappears while suggesting and amplifying the colors that will be placed over it. With such a base coat the oils flow like you are painting on glass. I can't tell you what a pleasure it is.

For this one too, I hope to add more shots of details today. --Jack

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Real Live Artist will be updated frequently. Please check back soon. © MMVI John H. Anglin All Rights Reserved

Real Live Artist will be updated frequently. Please check back soon.
© MMVI John H. Anglin All Rights Reserved