Summer Garden Posey

Abelia and coneflower from the summer garden.

"Coneflower and Abelia"   9" x 6"   Oil

It's A Mystery

I've recently returned from the Portrait Society of America Annual Conference held this year in Atlanta.  There were over 700 people in attendance for this inspiring four day event.  One of the highlights of the conference was the Mystery Art Sale.  Over 100 artists were invited to submit a 6"x9" painting on panels provided by the Society.  At the appointed hour, all the panels were unveiled and buyers had 15 minutes to view the paintings.  After that, the buying frenzy began!

Here's how the Portrait Society describes it:

"6 x 9: Limited Size – Unlimited Talent: A Mystery Art Sale"

"Back by popular demand, this program features 6x9" panels painted by previous award recipients, faculty, and other nationally known artists. Attendees have the opportunity to purchase, at a prix fixed price, a piece of art they love, the artist's name is revealed after the purchase."

This painting was my contribution to the art sale and I found out later that it was purchased by the talented Nicole Moné (great name for an artist!).  I was pleased to know that my little brown cow went to such an appreciative buyer.

"Little Brown Cow"   6" x 9"   Oil

All paintings were priced at $250 and 127 paintings sold in 32 minutes!  Proceeds benefit the Portrait Society of America scholarship programs.

Art of the Portrait Conference - Day Three

Jeff Hein's "Face-Off" competition portrait received the most votes from the Portrait Society of America's "Art of the Portrait" conference attendees.  Here's his painting.

The winner of the "Face-Off" competition gets to do a demo in front of the audience of 800.  No pressure!  Jeff kept us entertained as he painted the talented Katherine Stone, one of the twenty finalists in this year's International Competition. 

When the model took a break, Jeff turned the painting upside down to better evaluate the structure of the face and to easily see any adjustments that needed to be made to the drawing.  (In the picture below you can see him painting it upside down while Katherine looks on.)

Next up...the twenty finalists and the grand prize winner.

Art of the Portrait Conference 2013 - Day Two

Day two of the Portrait Society of America conference began with an "Oil and Water" demo by Michael Shane Neal and Mary Whyte. They painted in oil and watercolor, respectively, and worked from the same model, artist Sam Adoquei.  The audience could view the progress on large screens in the auditorium.

Later on, James Gurney, author and artist best know for his illustrated book series "Dinotopia", gave an entertaining presentation about his experiences of sketching "in the wild".  It was truly inspiring to see his dedication to drawing from life wherever he travels.  He had many stories about interesting and sometimes hilarious encounters with people and animals as he sketched them. (Check out his entertaining and informative blog at Gurney Journey.)

The "Face-Off" winner's demo next...

Art of the Portrait Conference - Opening Night

I spent the weekend in Atlanta at the Portrait Society of America's "Art of the Portrait" Conference.  The four day event began with a "face off" where 15 artists in groups of 3 painted 5 different models.  They had about two and a half hours to produce a portrait.  The next day the conference attendees (825 people!) voted on their favorite.  The chosen artist then did a demo for us on Saturday.  (I'll show that soon.)  Here are some of the artists in action.

Michelle Dunaway

Lynn Sanguedolce, Jeff Hein and David Kassan

Quang Ho

Sherrie McGraw

Joseph Todorovitch

More to come...

My New Favorite Brushes

In his classic book "The Painter In Oil", published in 1898,  Daniel Burleigh Parkhurst wrote: 

"You should always be on the lookout for a good brush; and whenever you run across one, buy it, no matter how many you have already."

I took his advice and purchased some highly recommended Rosemary and Co. brushes when I was at last year's Portrait Society of America conference in Philadelphia.  Rosemary herself had flown in from the Yorkshire Dales to show and sell her brushes.

  

They are now my absolute favorites.

The brushes come by Royal Mail and usually arrive within a week of ordering them online. 

Parkhurst also said, "There is nothing which comes nearer to yourself than the brush which carries out your idea in paint."

You can view Rosemary's online catalog here.
  

A Portrait Progression

This was my entry in the Portrait Society of America's 2012 International Portrait Competition.  Here's how it progressed.

Video by Justin Tennison

"Marguerite"   40" x 30"   Oil

Portrait Society of America Conference (Day Three)

Saturday's program began with a demonstration by Daniel Greene.  He talked about his color palette and then began working from the model.

 

The model is getting sleepy.

I think he was relieved when the pose ended.

Next up was Mary Whyte, the winner of the people's choice for the "Face Off" competition that occurred on Thursday night.  She demonstrated her watercolor technique for the audience.

Mary calls this next stage (below) when she lays in the broad shadow shape "the big scary".  ("You don't answer the phone at this stage!")  She put it down quickly and decisively, mixing wet into wet a reddish wash over an ultramarine blue wash. She commented that watercolor is the only medium where everything depends on timing.

Here she's adding the finishing touches on the 2 hour demonstration.

At the Awards Banquet on Saturday evening it was announced that Julio Reyes was the Grand Prize winner for his painting "Tread Softly."  Congratulations to Julio!

Grand Prize Winner

"Tread Softly"  42" x 63"   Oil  by Julio Reyes

Detail

The Portrait Society of America staff and faculty put on a great conference.  I plan to attend next year's event in Atlanta!

The Twenty Finalists

These are the finalists in the Portrait Society of America's 2012 International Portrait Competition.  

Nick Alm

Casey Baugh

Matthew James Collins

Marina Dieul

Stephen Early

John Ebersberger

Gavin Gardner

David Gluck

David Kassan

Katherine McNenly

Greg Mortensen

Aapo Pukk

Thomas Reis

Julio Reyes

Lynn Sanguedolce

Mary Sauer

me

Hsin-Yao Tseng

Alexandra Tyng

Paul Wise

Next up:  Day three of the Portrait Society of America conference with more demonstrations from artists and the Grand Prize winner is announced at the Awards Banquet.