Cari Amici
(Dear Friends),
I recently got the opportunity to try my hand at portrait painting
again.
I hired Vanessa, the sister of
the gal who modeled for my
“Tuscan Mural” last year, Anna Rosa.
This time I tried to do my version of Sight-Size (which means more drawing
and less leaning) and with natural light.
The window in my studio which has the north light is at my back.
I was sharing the model with my studio-mate
Roberto Castellini.
He painted with his
canvas on the other side of the model.
I
was on her right.
I got a bad start, as you can see on this first image (left side).
I was not too fussed, really.
I know that I tend to draw short fat faces,
like my own.
We all tend to draw
ourselves or our families’ forms since those are what we have seen the most and
maybe there is a deeper connection as well.
I was also trying to emulate my favorite painter,
Eugene Carriere. So, I was constantly using a fan brush to
keep everything soft and ghosty looking.
Once I got something on the canvas, I then started to refine the shapes.
Note that I was painting
monochromatically.
I wanted to get my
shapes closer to good before attempting some subtle colors.
But halfway Day 2, I started adding some skin
tones, still leaning towards monochromatic vs. very colorful designs.
I struggled with the glare from this northern light onto the oil.
The photography task was not much easier than
seeing my painting as I worked.
I missed plenty of model time since my
lavatrice (washing
machine) broke and thus, I had several meetings with the landlords as they came
to check it out and then meet the technician for the installation the next
week.
However, Roberto decided Thursday
evening that he wanted to start the next morning on a drawing, putting his
painted portrait aside.
Since I was not
enjoying the glare situation, I suggested that we move the position of the
model on her stand to a diagonal place that he and I had discussed before.
That meant, however, that the model’s face
would be more in shadow.
Still, I would
rather change partway through than continue painting in a reflective situation.
You may notice in the fourth image that I have a tendency to try to fatten
the face despite my earlier corrections!
Sometimes one must fight one’s natural tendencies.
I had one more 3-hour session with the model Vanessa after this last image
was taken.
I tried to refine the lips
and also work in the shadows a bit more.
I was hoping to be satisfied with my efforts.
While they were not bad, this work is no
masterpiece.
And thus, I should keep at
it…
In truth, most of my experiences in Morocco just made me
feel isolated and lonesome. It was difficult to have a real conversation with
anyone (it seemed only men who wanted to interact; women just smiled shyly or
spoke as little as possible to me). Most interactions I had ended with a
request for money or sex. 
