Master Studies

I've been very naughty not updating here. I keep meaning to, but work, family life and actually doing any art sort of distracts me. Sadly my website is in the same position.

Recently, I've been doing some Master Studies to improve my digital painting technique, and I've come a long way from the previous post. I scribble a lot while painting, when everyone tells me to use broad strokes and then refine, well I sort of do in a way, but I like scribbling and I'm getting results from it and that's what counts.

This is the first one I did, the Laughing Cavalier by Hals. I painted it all on one layer to prove to myself that I could. Not so anal with the others.

I have painted this in oils, actually I painted two, for a amateur dramatic production. One had a hole cut in it so it would fit over the head of one of the cast. The other one might still be my attic and I'll try to fish it out one day.

Serif have asked to use it in their promotional material for the next upgrade. They've been good to me and I said, "Yes." They have agreed to credit me, and for a practice piece, I'm happy with that.

Next one was Sweert's Boy in a Turban holding a posy. Not quite so successful, which is a shame as I really like the painting a lot.

Done in two layers, still trying to keep it relatively simple.

Next was a Bouguereau picture of a Shepherdess. I actually enjoyed doing this one a lot. Three layers to start with but became two quite quickly.

Then came the Ingres. This picture was made in hell. I didn't get the expression right, the dress was done about five time before I was reasonably happy with it. He is so precise in his placement which doesn't go down well a scribbler like me.

A classical statue. I first tried to do this with DrawPlus and their nice brushes, but I kept crashing the program due to my rapid scribbling. I like to overlay colour on colour to build up depth.

Water Nymph by Perrault. Totally suited to my method of working. I did this one more to learn to paint flesh. I still have a lot to learn.

Just for fun I thought I'd do a Titian. Didn't finish it as I'd learnt what I wanted from it and parts of the picture are so dark it is difficult to discern what the original colour was.

And finally Godward, another precise painter, so I took liberties with the finish. I could have spent days working on it, but that is not the point of doing Master Studies. Learning what I needed for that look and finding out where it fitted best into my method of working was and still is a voyage of discovery.

I enjoyed painting most of these and will probably do some more in the future. I learnt tons and will continue to learn as that's the only way to go forward.