Workshop Family Portrait

Family Portrait   My Brother's Bar Mitzva

50 x 36 cm

Oils on grey cardboard

I have decided that since this blog is all about my Journey... I will be posting work done in my weekly workshops, various challenges, daily paintings, photography, which I have sadly neglected.  In the title I will put which category it belongs to.  

This was done in my weekly workshop.  The reference photo has a lot of history to it... It seems to have been haunting me in some way.  Everyone was smiling and I had a very sad, almost crying, face.  Why my parents chose this photo is beyond me.  Maybe the others were far worse... Anyhow there I was, a scraggly,gaucky pre-teen and feeling very sorry for herself.  I don't know why!!! I do remember that I didn't like the skirt I wore... A taffeta skirt that my mother hand painted a huge rose in oils which was quite stiff.

I have been carrying the reference image in my bag to class for several months, had made several sketches in my sketchbook but didn't really have a clue as to how to how I want my feeling to come across. I did see a family portrait at local community center that caught my eye... A family group where only the child was done in color, sitting in a chair, and the other family members with no faces and indistinguishable... I also liked the limited palette she used.  Since I wanted to distinguish myself from the others decided on the distortion... I would be bigger than the rest.... maybe I could have made myself bigger still.... Kept the smiles in their faces .. mine left blank.  I also exaggerated their stance and dress,, Heleni suggested I keep within the palette bit added the yellow on the skirt and on my braids an blouse.

I will post the reference... haven't scanned it... hope I have a duplicate because its a mess.... 

A little about the material.  I have used heavy 1/8 grey cardboard painting directly with oils . I did not gesso the board as I have done with my daily paintings.  I used thinned and also not thinned oils... Tried to use the palette knife but just would work... the board absorbed very quickly .. it was almost like painting with pastels.... I rather enjoyed it... and will continue the series... family stuff using this method.

Day 28 30 in 30 Challenge

Leslie's  30 in 30 Challenge

 25 x 17.5 cm

Oils on gessoed cardboard

The reference photo that I chose was a group of plastic beach chairs near the water, Dead Sea, near a shading station... rather like the composition between the sea, distant hills... colorful chairs lit by the sun... after sketching it in started to sketch in the chairs and just didn't work in this small format... so it ended up just one chair......Oils on toned, orange, gessoed cardboard. Done with palette knife with limited palette of red, yellow, blue and white.

Day 27 30 in 30

Leslie's 30 in 30 Challenge

25 x 17.5 cm

Oils on gessoed cardboard

Wow... here we are on the 27th day.... can't believe it!!! Feel exhausted and brainwashed but otherwise OK!!!  A few years ago we took Amir, our grandson, with us to Ein Gedi Hotel and spa... boys love to climb!!!!

Oils on gessoed toned, yellow ochre, cardboard done with a palette knife... I used a limited palette.. Cadmium red, Cadmium yellow pale, Ultramarine blue and mixing white.   No blacks!!!!

A little about my setup... my painting area doubles with my computer table....I move the keyboard and mouse out of the way and roll out a picnic table cloth to protect the table.... when I am done roll it back covering the small section where the glass palette is... till the next time.   Here is how the set up looks in "painting mode"  You can see the reference image on the monitor!!!!