Cape May portrait - step IV... bringing some of that evening blue into her face before the final sprint...

I'd really like to finish this painting by Monday... so I took 15 minutes this morning, before a birthday bash for my 4 year old grand son, to get her face a little more in line with the ambient light.

Now I'm ready to get in the thick of it!

Cape May portrait - step III... trying to imagine an intense light in her face!

This second fairly thin layer over the underpainting got me to where I want to be for some serious work. I tried to convey the atmosphere of the East coast in the early evening with the model under intense lighting (this could be coming from a boardwalk area)... after a sunny day at the beach...

A couple of layers with restraint should do it... I hope. For one thing, the exaggerated lighting needs a little attenuation for more of a natural look. The introduction of cool colors will help as well. As usual, I try to save as much of the underpainting as possible in the final stage of development...

Cape May portrait - step II... it's a go!

Before getting started this afternoon, I brought the under painting a tad closer to what I'm after in terms of likeness, i.e., rendering the softness her eyes in particular (the type of eyes only a mother can have!)... she's starting to get real for me. It always mesmerizes me to see how the slightest variation in the shape of the eyes or the mouth can translate into a totally different expression.

I went for a sunset color scheme and rapidly blocked the white of the canvas using the hour I had at my disposal this afternoon. It seems the 4 hours I spent on the initial phase has paid handsome dividends as I have no corrections to implement in subsequent phases. I'm usually sloppier than that... but this is the muse!

I feel comfortable that I can bring this painting to fruition... with a wee bit of luck! I want this one to be painterly.

This is a 24 X 30 canvas.

Cape May portrait - step I... getting another serving of humble pie!

As part of the beach scene series, I wanted to do a portrait of the muse standing in front of the ocean in Cape May last summer. Portraiture is difficult for me... so I worked the greater part of the day trying to get a likeness. At times, I had to get out of the house to look at the evolving picture from a distance.

A good omen: the muse approved upon her return from work!

Samana beach two - final step... another humbling experience!

This is one of those paintings that did not come easy... and its leaving me hungry for a better one next time. For some reason, I seem to equate success to "painting as if writing", one infallible step after another until completion.

The gods frequently remind me that with such demeanor... I'm in the world to hurt!

Samana beach two - step VI... and submitting a painting to an annual art contest.

I gave another go at the Samana beach scene...

... and finally opted for a soft subdued background, the only version I could sympathize with for some reason. Slightly darker values in the upper part, a few more reflections from the bodies and I'll call it quit. I find it difficult to reconcile working in the garden and painting. I need to speed up to meet my "one painting a week" objective...

As I did last year, I am submitting a painting to an annual art contest covering the island of Montreal and beyond. I choose this painting because it achieves a fairly high degree of realism with few brush strokes (the shoulder was finalized with 3-4 brush strokes flat) and a very limited palette, for the figure in particular (2 colors, white and black).

With this painting, after 2 layers of paint one the under painting, I felt I had said enough. The under painting shows through in many areas giving it an unfinished look in a close up view, yet it reads perfectly from a couple of yards. I don't expect this bravura style to go far in the competition... nonetheless, this painting is perfectly me! I like realism but not at the expense of freedom, a key element I want to achieve in my art process...

Samana beach two - step V... not coming out as easy as I thought!

A busy weekend socializing with friends and family. I squeezed in a hour or so in an attempt to finish this painting once and for all... and met my match. I worked on the ocean exclusively (no time to address the girl's emaciated limbs and further highlights!) ... and had to let go of the impasto gel to get the effects I was after. With regard to the impasto gel: "ce n'est que partie remise"...

Looks like I will need a few more sessions before I can reach a certain level of satisfaction... if any (can't sell the skin of the bear before killing it)!

It suddenly dawned on me: the exaggerated light in the bottom half is begging to be replicated in the upper half as well. This could be my escape to a half decent picture beyond getting the girl up to speed with the rest. The horizon line is warped by the camera lens...