Another painting of Libbi, this time with SuzyQ




You might remember that I painted this special woman with her sister in April this year for their mother's Mother's Day gift. Now, thanks to her sister, Patti, I get to paint her with her Maltese, Suzy Q. I took my time today and painted from 1 p.m until 6 p.m. today. It's pretty rough still, but I think it's coming along well. Her dog is pure white, and in the reference photo for this painting, unlike the one for the painting of her mother with their dog I painted in April, there isn't much in the way of shadow, so it will be a bit of a challenge to portray Suzy Q well. I'll be working on this painting again tomorrow. I'll post progress images again then. Now I'm going out to fellow and sister artists' blogs to see what they/you painted today.... Always a favorite time of day!

9 comments:

Marilyn Moore said...

You must have started this as soon as we left the gallery. Love to look the painting develop. Do you brushes ever get dry?

Laura/CenterDownHome said...

It's inspiring to watch it come along like that. I'm in awe of the intensity with which you work . I can't seem to give anything my full attention for more than an hour. I get restless, distracted. I think that there must be a stamina you develop, like a marathon runner. I start wheezing and complaining of a stitch after the first mile, but you have trained yourself to stick with it, keep moving. :) It's really inspiring and a good thing for me to ponder, Susan.

I like what you wrote a couple of posts back about jumping off of a 20 story building. It IS brave -- to Start. To take that leap. Especially painting from life. I haven't done that since college, that I can remember. I'm thinking that my slow, deliberate, safe way of working is like letting myself gently over the edge of the 20 story building and inching my way down. It's still terrifying, but you miss the exhilaration and all that clinging to the building doesn't make you less likely to hit the sidewalk. Even if you fly for a second or two, you're still tethered to the building, trying to avoid the risk.

Wow! Kind of gave those two analogies a workout! Sorry so long. I love your work -- want to steal the composition of the painting in the sidebar -- little girl in pink with dandelion against green-grass-meets-blue-sky horizon. Love that. :)

Susan Carlin said...

Marilyn, yes, I started it at 1, so that was just after you left. Since I don't have water at the gallery, I wipe the brushes off as best I can and then take them home to wash. They don't get much 'dry time', you're right. :)

Susan Carlin said...

Laura, thank you for the compliment on the little girl with the dandelion. The reference photo was completely white behind her figure and she was holding a hammer. (?) But I fell in love with her face and hands, so got to give her what I preferred her to hold and a landscape I preferred her in! That was fun.
As for the intensity, I think it's about having an environment that supports me painting. Because I like company when I paint, having tourists walk in and out is supportive. Working all by myself makes me sad and I derail. You might be wired differently and need solitude and silence to get to "the zone." Also, I lose momentum if I leave something for long. It stops mattering to me to pick it back up. I want to start something fresh. In any case, your work is ASTOUNDING, and however you created it is GREAT!
Thank you for your great comment. Readers, go check out Laura's amazing portraits...

Bonnie Mann said...

Susan, I recognized the young lady right away from your previous painting, even before reading your comments. You are amazing in the way you capture a likeness so soon into the painting. This will be another great one!

theresamillerwatercolors said...

Hi Susan! I love watching how your paintings develop. In this one I can see another beautiful painting in the making. I do remember and recognize your model from your previous painting, lovely!

I also love reading your entries, they are always so positive and it's wonderful to able to peek into your exciting life - I am always amazed at people who can express themselves so well and so candidly, as you can.

Have a great day!

Susan Carlin said...

Thank you Bonnie. I have to feel I got the likeness pretty well before I start laying in paint... probably a holdover from my pastel portrait days. Even so, I often have to move a nose over an eighth of an inch or pull an eyebrow down or, in Libbi's case, give her a quarter of an inch more hair to the left and on top even though I was well into the painting. Seeing it on a computer monitor really reveals any problems. I want to paint her teeth a bit more generally when I get back to the gallery on Monday. I see that I got rather hyper-realistic.

Susan Carlin said...

Thank you Theresa! I wonder sometimes if I'm way too chatty, so it's nice to think someone's appreciating it! That means a lot.

Frank Gardner said...

I like seeing your approach to the start, block in, and then the finish. You are so good with portraits, my weakness.