How often do you paint from the live model? Well, I realized with horror that it has been a while for me. Most of my clients don't have the time to sit for their portraits and I seem to be always painting from reference photos. So when I saw that there is an 'Open Studio Event' at Randy Higbee gallery, I decided to venture out.
Our model was very pretty and knew how to hold a lovely pose. The studio session started with several quick poses and then turned into one long pose. All the poses were lovely and made for great future reference photos. The atmosphere was one of camaraderie, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable.
It was fun being surrounded by so many talented artists, who worked in a variety of mediums. Every painting was different not just from the angles it showed, but also the way the chosen medium was handled.
The skin of a well lit model, reveals such lovely color variations, that can often not be glimpsed from a reference photo. Some artists, took this and went for very colorful renditions, others kept their paintings more toned down. Yet each and everyone was a unique response to a lovely set up.
I have decided that I really need to do this more often and promised myself that I will try a new, more loose painting approach. My work is very tight and controlled and a studio setting will allow me to just go for it and experiment. As with all experiments not every one will be a keeper, but that's ok. We learn from our failures and it is important to just have fun while enjoying the act of creating.
