April 2009
Female Portrait Four
by Allison Alexandra
Here is a portrait which illustrates an interesting example of glasses and the resulting cast shadow on the cheeks below. This portrait is currently on view until July 30, 2009 at Ventana Medical Systems Gallery Govac show. For more info, please click on the link.
The subject is Diane Loving, M.A., Co-Founder and President of Southern Arizona Arts Guild and Department Chair at Brown Mackie College.
Please Scroll down to find a synopsis of the process of Painting
a Female Portrait.
Diane Loving, M.A.
Department Chair ~ General Studies
Brown Mackie College
Co-President / Founder SAAG
Currently Govac Show, Ventana Gallery
20" x 16", Pastel on Gatorboard
by Allison Alexandra
One. Consultation
I met with Diane after the first time I navigated the beautiful drive to her home in Oro Valley, AZ. I believed that her reading glasses would add character to this portrait and wondered if she was interested in
wearing them.
She laughed and showed me probably over 30 very colorful pairs (I did not count) on a table in her living room.
There was quite a selection!!...She wore a lively outfit which reflected her funny artistry. I found her very supportive of this process.
Two. Sketch
This portrait was begun on Unison-Richeson Gatorboard. It has a sand paper texture which holds optional washes, too.
It is good because it is a rigid board but lightweight. The insides of the board consist of a kind of Polystyrene non-toxic foam core.
Here is a light charcoal HB sketch on a 16" x 20" Gatorboard.
Three. Background
I started in with NuPastels for the background with Indigo Blue 285, Black 229, and some orange. My first thought was to pick up the blue and yellow tones of her shirt.
As one can see, the background evolved throughout this painting. The brightness will be subdued during future development. At the beginning, there are only about 1-2 layers of pastel covering the board.
Four. Initial Block-in
Here is a light foundation layer setting up the basic proportions, values, hues of what is to manifest as this painting is worked on.
Her hair was a combination of many colors: Indian Red 263, Nut Brown 313, Titian Brown 333, Plum 324, Cordovan 353, Cadmium Yellow Deep 257, and Black 229. Violet 224 was used as a basis for the clothing with some dabs of orange thrown in to match the hair color.
For the face, I started with a Dark Brown Garnet for the shadows. Several colors were used for mid-tones: Sanguine 213, Coral 383, and Sandalwood 204. The main highlight color was Madder Pink 286.
The lips are done with Crimson Red 256 and the eyes Prussian Blue 295.
Five. Another Layer
At this point, the subject is recognizable. People who saw it would say, "That is Diane". Some of the shadows needed to be renegotiated, some of the lines lightened, and her neck slimmed down. The shadows of the glasses were studied to capture the unique twists and turns of direction.
I wanted to develop the hair more so that it was three-dimensional. This required studying the curls of the hair and deepening the lightest highlights as well as the darkest darks of the hair, as one can see in the final painting.
More shadows were added to emphasize the head sitting on the shoulders and cross-hatching was done in the back to develop some
interesting texture.
Six. Final Portrait
This shows the last stage of this portrait of Diane Loving. The structure of the head and hair have been developed with light and dark accents.
The brightness of the background and clothing has been toned down to attract more attention to the face and interesting shadows from her glasses. The colors have been modulated to work in harmony together.
"Diane Loving" at Govac Show, Ventana Gallery, Oro Valley, AZ
Portrait of Diane Loving
20" x 16", Pastel on Gatorboard
by Allison Alexandra