Portrait of Hooter - Part Two

For those of you that are following the progress on the Portrait of Hooter this is the second layer of the work in progress. At this stage, the Umber has been put into place and once dry, it will be ready for the dead layer.

My earlier portraits have always been approached more directly which involved a lot of push and pull with the paint. This is my first time using this technique and it is going to take many layers (about seven in total) before the finished piece is achieved.

As the portrait is of my brother and our relationship as siblings is a close one. For that reason, special care is being made to capture his likeness. His likeness becomes lost when too many details have been applied and this will have to be something for me to remain aware during this study.

The question I have, and won’t know until the painting nears the final stage, is where does it become too much or not enough? Any thoughts are welcomed.

Portrait of Hooter
Part one

-Kim Bennett

Portrait of Hooter

Well there is a warning that artist should not paint a portrait of someone close to them. Oh well, so I decided to break the rules. There is still another layer of Umber to go but I decided to let it dry before working any further.

This time I am working from a photograph. It is of a self portrait that my brother once used as a profile for his flicker account. The photo I am working from has so much of his personality. Luckily I saved a copy before he replaced it. The recent photo is another one of my favorites where he is looking distantly out of a window to a beautiful snow scene.

We are worlds apart distantly but I like being around him because music sounds so much better when he's there.

-Kim Bennett

Started a tea cup

Work in progress 10 x 10" inch Acrylic on panel/MDF

Today, I thought would share a work in progress from my studio.

This week was a start of a routine for me. This was to pay a visit to studio each morning to paint. Even if it is just for a little while.

It is a work in progress so there is still areas of the painting that needs to be resolved. I have gone back and made corrections on the ellipse at the top left of the cup. You can see where I rubbed in some white. This still needs some attending to. I'll have to revisit the body of the cup. At the moment, it as is just the first layer and mapping. There is also a decision to make with the stylized flowers in the background. But, it's coming along nicely.

This teacup was another charity shop find from Pudsey. I was unable to purchase a single yellow cup so I acquired the full set of cups. In this case, painting a stack of cups probably would have been more appropriate. But a single cup can be an exercise for a tight schedule.

Other thoughts about a still life set up came to me this morning as I was walking home from food shopping. This time of year, the gardens are thick with red violet peonies, lupines and small cool pink flowers. I don’t know much about flowers or their names but the warm red violet colours and cool pinks would go well with the yellow.

Seeing all these flowers in passing reminded me that I have some gardening to do. Luckily it is going to be another gorgeous weekend.

-Kim Bennett