Another one - I'm enjoying this

Celebrity portrait number 2 - stage 1 - was a little more taxing. I took advantage of the sunny weather and set up outside on the patio. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm not so sure. My fast drying medium became quite thick and sticky in the heat. The sunlight reflected off the pale canvas, which meant I had 2 pairs of glasses on, one's for seeing and sunglasses over the tops of those (!). On top of that, little bugs were sticking to the wet painting too. But I cracked on for a while before giving up. In the evening, I was thrilled when a friend of Steffi's turned up and immediately said 'Hey - that's.....'xxxxx'...' and named the celebrity straight away. Motivated by her comment I carried on working at it until nearly 10pm. A visitor the following day also recognised who it was straight away too.....so that's a good sign. I took a moment today to relax away from the paints and watch Valerie demonstrate the next stages. Her speed is amazing and the effects are achieved so accurately, so quickly. She's been teaching portraiture since 1981 - and if I can have half her speed in the next 20 years I will be well pleased.

A little more progress

If you've been reading my FORUM you would have seen more stages with the portrait. Here's how things looked a day later. I've emailed my progress to Valerie, for her feedback and I was delighted at her response. She writes:
Actually, an excellent job!!! Don't do too well, I'd like to be needed when I get there!!! haha

Keep up the good work! You're definitely on target!!!

Love,

Val

So - totally motivated by her comments I am going to prep another 2 portraits ready to paint outside, in the sun.

Portrait Painting - with Valerie Stewart

Well, it's a long time to wait between now and next May for Valerie Stewart's portrait workshops..........so, with some time on my hands today I decided to have a little go, following her DVD instruction. Firstly, I selected a couple of photos - a celebrity and a family member. Next I prepped 2 canvas, mixing the base colour and giving a good coat on both canvas. As I settled at the table with my brushes, medium, palette, base colour, easel and kitchen towel, I was ready for stage one. I guess, the thing with portraits is........they are supposed to look like someone specific. With landscapes, we can be a lot more forgiving and add extra bushes, trees, fences - anything really..... The first few strokes were applied, following Valerie's guidance. I was a bit wary about making a mistake as I haven't ever made a detailed 'person' portrait in oils before. I'm happy to work with graphite and build up the shading, knowing an eraser will always take out bits I'm not happy with. Not quite sure how that will work with oils though. So, I'm almost at the end of stage one on the celebrity portrait and taking a break before switching to smaller brushes. All that you see so far has been created with a 1 inch brush. If you can guess who it is from this very basic layer, considering there's no eyes yet, I'd be really suprised.

Oil painting equipment

Although I have a variety of supplies on my website, I have quite a few other bits and bobs that are not listed. Often I will have bottles of thinners, cleaning buckets, beater racks, brush holders - all items which are either impossible or uneconomical to post. I have quite a selection of brushes that are suitable for watercolour and acrylics too. Not quite enough stock to put on the website, but plenty good enough to pop into a pot and take along to classes and art group demo's. There's some end of line tuitional DVD's available for various subjects and media. I also now have a range of quite superb oil paint in medium sized tubes at a very competitive rate. I've been trialing this paint for a little while now and it's really passed every test I've put it through, with a superb range of colours too. Most of these extra's are taken along to classes (subject to boot space) and are available for students to purchase at low cost as no postage and packing is involved. The recent addition to the product table are a selection of canvases, from standard rectangle, panoramic and mini size. So.......if you know you're coming along to a class soon and there's something specific you'd like, feel free to drop me a line on info@ayoubart.co.uk so I can be sure to include it in my goody box.

Valerie Stewart Portrait Seminar

The final details of the Valerie Stewart Portrait Workshop have been organised. There's been much interest in Valerie's unique 4 day seminar, due to take place here in the UK next Spring. The details and timetable will show you exactly what's involved. You can see what is and what isn't included in the classes. A friend of mine, Kim, kindly took some photos during a recent seminar she took with Valerie in March 2009. You'll be able to see a portrait Kim made of her daughter and a double portrait of her son and grandson too. You'll also see Valerie working with a student on another double portrait. The places are limited. I'm really looking forward to this workshop and I'll be taking part along with you all. Now.......I need to select who I'm going to paint. Is it going to be a couple of members from Pink Floyd - or will it be some people a little closer to home. Decisions, decision. Still, I have ample time to decide and I'm sure my mind will change several times. Meanwhile, I'd really like to leave you with this portrait made by Valerie. I think you'll agree she's done the most fantastic job in catching Bob Ross is this friendly pose.

Joyce Ortner in the UK

Deposit time........The first deposits for the Joyce Ortner Seascape seminar, scheduled for September 2010 are being received. The only real change to the previous arrangements with Joyce are the price and the venue - and the former is because of the latter. Unfortunately Capel Village Hall has already been booked out and we've had to go for a more expensive venue at The Lambe School in nearby East Bergholt. So - once again, we'll be painting in the birthplace of John Constable, England's romantic painter. Just a short stroll from his studio and home, situated in one of the most pretty ,chocolate box style villlages. You can find more details HERE

Pop Art Portrait

The painting commission I was working on last week, I'm relieved to say, has been very well received. It was a Pop Art commission, it was a large piece, measuring 20 x 20 inches and it's a wedding portrait. Apparently the newlyweds have monochrome decor throughout the house and this black and white painting is just perfect. It's made a very unique gift indeed and I'm delighted my work has been chosen to be a momento for such a special occassion.