"Everybody knows a work of art takes at least an hour!" Lucy to Linus, (Peanuts)

FineArtViews Painting Competition - Twice in the Fav 15%

http://canvoo.com/boldbrush/badge/13203 three times selected for FAV15%, Fine Art Views Bold Brush Painting Competition

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

One Hour Demo

At the Island Art Expo this past weekend not only did I get to do a portrait of Santa Claus but I gave an hour and a half workshop/demo on portraiture. This always is a tense situation for me since I feel I have to "perform" well and do an impressive job in a short time. Talking and demoing is also a bit of a trick since I want to concentrate on what I'm doing and not on my verbalizing. The model arrived in time and sat very nicely...didn't move a muscle for the entire
hour...she is a professional and that helped very much. I began and proceeded and got through
the demo without shaming myself so for that I am pleased! I was actually just starting to get the
feel for my subject and wanted to continue, to make all the corrections I could see were needed, but the time was up and I managed to discuss my process fairly coherently...everyone seemed happy. I cannot believe, though, that I did not take any photos of the model so that I could work
on this at home. Perhaps that is for the best. I can use this as a reminder of what is possible for me to accomplish in a short time if I'm expected to, and also how far I have yet to travel in my quest for improvement.

7 comments:

  1. Beautifully said and beautifully done. Wish I could have been there for the demo. I love your work.

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  2. The shadows, the face's expression, the skin color with mild cold tones are perfect. It doesn't matter, if the portrait looks like her or not.

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  3. Hi Karen..she is fabulous..gorgeous work! You are wonderfully talented! Have a sparkling week!
    Victoria~

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  4. It's simply fabulous Karen. I'm amazed that you were able to do this in an hour. I'm also always amazed at how much sensitivity there is in your portraits. They're so beautiful, that your technical skill looks effortless, I'm able to just get lost in the mood of your painting. :)

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  5. It is amazing what yo do in such short time!
    I wish I was there!
    I think it's very hard to teach and paint at the same time, but your portait is very beautiful!

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  6. Thank you guys! Yes, Suzanne, I do find it challenging to teach and paint at the same time...kind of like walking, chewing gum and rubbing your belly clockwise is hard to do all simultaneously:-)

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  7. Fabulous one hour demo Karen.
    Kim

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