"Detail from Sargent's Mrs George Swinton" (oil on stretched canvas; 16" x 12")

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The painting is the copy of a detail from "Mrs George Swinton" (1897) by the master portraitist John Singer Sargent. The original hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago.

Mrs. George Swinton epitomizes the painterly virtuosity that made John Singer Sargent one of the most favored portraitists of fashionable Europeans and Americans in the late 19th century. Extravagant color and brushwork were central to Sargent's success, as was his ability to present an image of his sitter that adhered to social standards.

In Elizabeth Swinton's case, he accentuated her regal bearing and feminine satin dress. She was also known for her musical talents; at the time her portrait was executed, she was recognized as an amateur singer and later began performing professionally. Swinton's pose indicates both the poise of a performer and the countenance of a fashionable socialite.

As it happens, Sargent is one of my favorite artists. When Danni Dawson gave her portrait painting class an assignment to copy a portion of his portrait with the emphasis on how he handled satin fabrics, I picked this painting. Look at Mrs Swinton's gorgeous dress and the arm chair her right hand holds on to so elegantly!

"Irish Lass" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 9")

Sarah with a resolute expression is of Irish descent. Can't you tell by her fair complextion, reddish brown hair, and green jacket? I had fun painting her in one-week session in Danni Dawson's portrait painting class at the Art League School in Alexandria, VA.

"Master of the Hunt" (oil on stretched canvas; 20" x 16")

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Claire, from France, is a sculptor who occasionally models. Here she is dressed as the Master of the Hunt. By the way, she is not the master herself, but hunts nevertheless in Leesburg, VA You can see a bit of her black top hat, but unfortunately her long, slender, ballerina-like legs in black boots are cut off in this half-length portrait. The painting was done from life during Danni Dawson's portrait painting class at the Art League School in Alexandria, VA.

"Detail from Titian's Ranuccio Farnese" (oil on gessoboard; 10" x 8")

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The painting is the copy of a detail from "Ranuccio Farnese" (1542) by the Italian Renaissance master Titian from Venice. The original hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.  It has always been one of my favorite Old Masters' paintings, so when Danni Dawson gave us a grisaille/glazing assignment, I decided to make a copy of a detail from it.

This portrait of twelve-year-old Ranuccio was painted in Venice just after he had been made prior of San Giovanni dei Forlani, an important property belonging to the Knights of Malta. The grandson of Pope Paul III, Ranuccio was the youngest member of one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Italy.

Ranuccio became cardinal of Santa Lucia in Sicily at the age of fifteen, and he was granted several bishoprics before his untimely death at the age of thirty-five. In this perceptive portrait, Titian brilliantly captures the image of a sensitive pubescent boy about to embark upon a very public life.

"After Vermeer's 'Milkmaid'" (oil on gessoboard; 10" x 8") sold

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You may recognize that the above painting is detail of the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer's "Milkmaid" (circa 1658).  The original hangs in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which regards it as "one of the museum's finest attractions"

My copy is a class assignment by Danni Dawson, painted over the period of several weeks.  We were learning the grisaille method of monochrome underpainting, which was used extensively by most Old Masters in the past.  We did the underpainting with burnt sienna and ivory black paint; a thick layer of white paint went over the underpainting; then, finally, thin layers of glazes of other colors were laid on to bring out the glow.

If you mess up the underpainting, no matter what fancy glazing work you do, there isn't much you can do to rescue the mess.  But over the beautifully-done underpainting, all you need is a small amount of pigments to finish off the painting.  That is how the Old Masters maximized the effect of expensive pigments.  I must say it is a tedious way of painting, but there is no denying the exquisite glow the glazed paintings have.

"Gazelle" (oil on stretched canvas; 20" x 16")

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Here is another portrait I painted in a two-week period in May in Danni Dawson's portrait painting class.  The beautiful African-American model posed in a purple dress she made herself.  I had fun painting her braided hair as well as the satiny fabric.

"Baseball Player" (oil on stretched canvas; 14" x 11")

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As I took a month off from blogging, not from painting, I have a backlog of paintings to share.  The above portrait was done in two-week periods during Danni Dawson's portrait painting class. 

The handsome model posed as a baseball player at rest, without a shirt.  Cropped as a head-and-shoulders portrait, it didn't quite make sense.  So I made him up as the St. Louis Cardinals player!  Somehow, I dropped the letter "t" in the cap; my apologies to the Cardinals fans.  Don't you like the model's sly, side-long glance?

"Tulips in a Dutch Vase" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 9")

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Danni Dawson gave her portrait painting class a homework last week: paint an interesting tulip still life.  So did we, as she must be obeyed!  This is what I came up with.  I arranged five tulips from my garden in a small Dutch vase on a reflective metal serving platter, then painted them against a muted gray background.  Sadly tulips are pretty much done now.  My husband and I are going to plant lots of specialty tulip bulbs this fall for my painting fun!

"Clare" (oil on stretched canvas; 16" x 12")

I was happy to be back in Danni Dawson's portrait painting class yesterday.  The beautiful model who was dressed in a tutu got me all excited.  Regretting not having a larger canvas, I finished off a 16" x 12" one as a sketch.  Next week I will work on a more decent-sized canvas for real!

By the way, Danni gave me a high rating to the spring break homework, "Primavera".  She found in the painting nothing to criticize and everything to praise!

"Primavera" (oil, 18" x 24")

"Primavera" (oil on stretched canvas; 18" x 24") nfs

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Danni Dawson, my portrait painting teacher, gave the class an assignment for the spring break--either a large still life or a 3-4' full-length portrait in outdoor setting.  The operative word was BIG.  I considered painting a self-portrait, because I have a perfect reference photo.  But where do I hang a 40"-long painting?

Then, I thought of the picture of spring flowers with my darling daughter in the background that I took three years ago.  Get two birds with one stone, as it is both a still life and an outdoor portrait!  How big?  A 24" x 30" or a 22" x 28" canvas would make the girl's face larger than life size; do I want to see it day in day out in the family room, no matter how much I love my baby?

So I settled on a 18" x 24" canvas, with a 6 1/2"-long head of my daughter.  It took many sessions to finish the portrait/still life.  The subject, my husband, and myself are all happy with it.  We'll see what Danni has to say about the painting.

By the way, why did I title the painting "Primavera"?  Because it is about spring--the season and the phase in a life!

"Civil War Union Lieutenant Colonel" (oil on stretched canvas; 18" x 14")

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You may remember Steve, a military history buff and reenactment actor who also models.  I have painted his head-and-shoulders portrait a few weeks ago.  I decided to paint him again in a half-length format to show his Civil-War Union lieutenant colonel uniform with his sword, buckle and all. 

Many paintings go through "I can't take this crap of a painting any more"; I hit the wall in the last week's session.  I, however, persevered and was able to finish it yesterday.  I could have developed those authentic buttons more, but was afraid of them distracting the viewer from Steve's thoughtful, weathered face with a wonderful beard.  So I suggested rather than defined them.  I rather like the portrait.  How about you?

"Civil War Lieutenant Colonel" (oil on stretched canvas; 14" x 11")

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Steve is a military history buff and reenactment actor who also models.  He is costumed as a Civil-War lieutenant colonel in this portrait.  There was a little flutter of excitement last Thursday as a couple of gentlemen approached me at the Art League Gallery in Alexandria, VA.  They admired this painting, quite wet and yet unfinished, and showed an interest in purchasing it.  To my disappointment, they never called me back; nevertheless, I felt flattered at the compliment.

"Lady Alice Apples" (oil on stretched canvas; 8" x 10") sold

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According to my teacher Danni Dawson, it is a lot easier to sell a still life than a portrait, since nobody wants to hang a stranger's portrait on his wall.  At auctions, Thomas Eakins's portrait sold for one-and-a-half million dollars, whereas his still life made 10 million!  I don't know whether she is pulling our legs to encourage us to do these still life studies as homework.

Her argument is that even as a portraitist, one has to be able to paint all kinds of things convincingly: flowers, musical instruments, books, furniture, pets, even landscapes!  Still lifes are with which you hone your skills at your convenience.  Do you agree with her?

This week's assignment is paint apples.  Many red apples have green bits as well, just like a
Caucasian skin tone with greenish veins.  As you know, reds and greens are complimentary colors;  mixing them together makes ugly browns, if you are careless.  So one has to learn to lay down red on top of green without making muck.  Do you think I succeeded?

"Belly Dancer" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 9")

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This beautiful woman is a professional belly dancer.  She was wearing her costume with sequins and all, but I had only time for a small head-and-shoulders portrait.  Two-day sessions are not enough for a full-length portrait, but gave me a sufficient time to mess up her mouth: her gentle smile now looks like a smirk!

"Yellow Still Life" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 9")

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Danni Dawson, my teacher, assigned her portrait painting class a color study of yellow on yellow.  I put together a yellow ensemble of a lemon, banana, clementine, and cherry tomatoes with a Wedgwood oil cruet on an orange cloth.  Perhaps I learned my lesson with the red color study about the value differentiation; this one went much easier.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the painting pulsate with warmth and cheer.  No wonder I like the yellow color!

"Troy" (oil on stretched canvas; 10" x 8")

"Troy"

After Week I

After the school closing due to the blizzard that dumped over 2 feet of snow in the Washington metropolitan area, Danni Dawson's portrait painting class was back in session yesterday.  I was happy to be able to capture finally the likeness of the African-American model.  Aren't you impressed with all the colors I found in his expressive face?  That's what Danni emphasizes--put more colors!

"Firebird" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 16") nfs

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A beautiful young model in an unusual leather outfit came to Danni Dawson's portrait painting class two weeks ago.  She is apparently a "fire spin" dancer!  Although her outfit of vest with harlequin patches, opera-length black gloves, and laced-up red boots were fascinating, I decided to focus on her even more fascinating face.  Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I could not capture her likeness.  Her face exuded the audacious and vivacious spirit, which was beyond my ability to transcribe in paints.  Perhaps I will try again as this is supposed to be a five-week pose.

The painting looked like this after the first week.  During the second day, I gave more life to her flesh tone, strengthened the shadows on her face, and made the background flat and redder.

"Summer Roses" (oil on stretched canvas; 10" x 8")

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During the week of June 8th, I took a workshop of my teacher, Danni Dawson, at her house in Arlington, VA.  What a workshop it was!  Six of us painted in her rose garden, then when the weather became oppressively hot, we went inside to paint still lives in her spacious studio.  Danni, a gourmet cook, also prepared every lunch of an Italian dish made fresh with vegetables from her garden!

"Summer Roses" was the first painting of the workshop, which I didn't quite get to finish. Yesterday I worked on the leaves to make the painting more lush.  How do you like it?

I started the painting on the canvas toned with an ultramarine blue, which became part of the background. Cool, don't you think?

This is how far I got on Monday. After a heavy thunderstorm that night, the flowers were all gone!

"Black Muse" (oil on stretched canvas; 16" X 12")

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I am a little behind in blogging.  Better late than never!  The beautiful African-American model is wearing a turban-like head cloth from Mali.  I painted her chiseled face over the two Saturdays in Danni Dawson's portrait class at the Art League School in Alexandria, VA. 

I started blocking in.

I got this far at the end of the first-week session.

"Man in Salmon" (oil on stretched canvas; 11" x 14") sold

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Back to Danni Dawson's portrait painting class.  Last Saturday was the beginning of the five-week pose, but the model couldn't make it.  We had instead Ed for one week as a substitute.  Lucky us!  I love his don't-mess-with-me look. Put a helmet and armor on him; he will look like a Renaissance-Italy general!

Step 1: After 40 minutes!  I used a gray-toned canvas for this portrait.

Step 2: I got this far during the class.

Step 3: The drawing was off, so I corrected the drawing and color temperature errors from a photo I took.