Tattooed Lady.

S

spikeymikey

Member
I thought you guy's might dig the tattoo. Here's a detail shot of an as yet unfinished full length portrait of Anneliese, an Austrian model I'm using at present. She actually has this tattoo on her arm.

She's not at all 'reserved' as the tat might suggest. ;)

 
Thank's very much, Max. Yes I am the artist and she is, as you say "a looker"! :D No doubt about that.

I've asked her about the tattoo but she doesn't speak too much English. I think she's telling me that it's a symbol of both courage and protection? And she's from a very old Austrian family. I've depicted the tattoo slightly larger than it actually is. She's here in France on holiday and I hope to get some more paintings done of her.
 
I like your work very much! Color portraiture is my weakness, but I'm no good at it. Graphite works for me, but color doesn't seem to catch... yet. What media is this?

:D Ron
 
Superbe Mikey!! I just wish that I could afford one of your works! I love this. Brian
 
Thank's guy's, thats very nice of both of you (I wish you could afford one too, Brian!)

In answer to your question, Poniatowski, that's basically oil paint on a prepared panel. This one is a head detail of a work in progress and is oil, pencil and charcoal on board and is a bit looser. Sometimes it's mixed-media on board, but nearly always involves oil paint, pretty lightly applied. But there's couple of secret ingredients in there that I can't reveal and I'm sure no-one else uses this method. Portraiture and figures are my main interest and I guess I've been at it a long time now and gradually developed this particular way of working.

This girl Rebecca, is great to paint also.




Thanks again for your comments - I must give you a call sometime, Brian, I hope you are well and still playing that Jackson!!
 
poniatowski said:
I like your work very much! Color portraiture is my weakness, but I'm no good at it. Graphite works for me, but color doesn't seem to catch... yet. What media is this?

:D Ron
Click to expand...

Just a thought Ron, and not trying to turn this into an art forum but color is a frightening thing for a lot of people - especially trying to get convincing flesh colors. The thing is, I think color is 'one more thing to worry about' when you have so many other things going on - it's like juggling too many balls. You have, design, form, color, drawing, composition,the abstract nature of any painting - all these things happening at once.

I find that as long as you get the tones right - say working in five tones from light to dark(like Velasquez, Sargent etc.), it does not matter what actual color the flesh is(within reason!). As long as you take the curse out of the red with a complimentary you can push it into blue or green and if the tonal values are correct it will still look convincing - you can in fact make flesh as cool as you like and in reality it's a LOT cooler than most people think. I spent hours and hours staring at Velasquez's work to realise this. Trouble is, adding a straight comp. color lowers the tone of your basic mixed fleshtone, so there's a trick to this process to keep that from happening and I have a pre-mixed cool complimentary that I mix with most flesh that keeps the tone where the basic flesh color is at - if that makes any sense? It saves constantly adjusting the 'cut' color to bring the tonal value back up again.

I hope this helps?
 
Yes Mikey, do give me a call when it is convenient. I am still giging twice a month and yes still playin the white Jackson with the EMGs and Floyd R! Fender Pro Sonic for amp with red Fender Strat as a back up axe! Still takin lessons and enjoying the challenge of playin guitar. All the best, Brian
 
Yes,

It makes a LOT of sense and I never heard or read about 5 colors. This is something I'm going to try. I've seen a lot of work in different museums and Velasquez and expecially Sargent are my favorites. Of course, I enjoy a lot of other painters / artists as well.
Yes, being a sculptor /ceramist / metal worker does have its disadvantages when working with color. I'm not scared or nervous about it, but it sometimes just doesn't work for me. I'll have to mess around with our suggestions and see what happens!

Thanks!

Ron
 
It's five tones, Ron - think of it as being in black and white. The colouration is secondary in essence. Look at some of Sargents looser studies and you can count the five values he used. It's just a process of simplification.

Try not to confuse color with tone. Limit yourself to five tones + your darkest dark and your highlight and control those tonal values. When the tonal values get too complex the form is lost and it becomes a mess.
 
Splendid ! I stop collecting pickelhaubes, I switch to ladies ... paintings ! :p You're an excellent and probably well known artist, arn't you ? :?
are you in France at the moment ?
 
Thank's Stephane, glad you like the work. Yes, I'm in France and I think we may have corresponded sometime back?

Where in France are you?
 
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