Pastel Portrait at the Sebastian River Art Club

On Saturday, August 15th I was having such a good time with my granddaughter Salem, that I forgot I was supposed to be painting a live model at the Sebastian River Art Club!  So arriving late, I took the only position left, which was a 3/4 profile.  It ended up being the most interesting angle and I had a great time painting Anthony Smith, a young black gent.

Brett Pigon, a Melbourne artist, was instructing many of the artists present, who were sketching in mostly pencil and charcoal.  I love color, so after a brief drawing of burnt umber pastel over vine charcoal, I dug into my colors.  Reds, greens, oranges, purples and ochre, layering and tweaking, from dark to light, on old smooth buff paper bound in a book.  So in about 2 hours I had a pretty good image going, with lots of color.  Couldn't wait to get back to it so when I got home I put another hour or so into it.  My plan is to dress him in an ethnic shirt, very colorful, and put additional color on his face.  Hair dreds also need work.

Anthony Smith, Pastel by Judy Burgarella

I usually do a demo for my Thursday class at the Sebastian River Art Club, and I saw this beautiful painting (actually it's a mixed media drawing) by Leonardo DaVinci--or so the experts think--and was so enamored by it that I decided to paint it, hoping I could create it fast enough to use it as a demo.  It was fun, and I brought it to class and demoed how to start and create many elements of this painting.

Painted copy by Judy Burgarella of "Profile of a Woman in Renaissance Dress" by Leonardo DaVinci

This painting is also not finished, as I must wait until it is dry to increase its color values, but I am very happy with the outcome of 3-1/2 hour's work, painted in oil on a 12" x 16" canvas board. I prefer canvas board because it takes up so little room in my studio, is easy to store, and will not get holes or dents poked into it.

My acrylic portrait class in the Vero Beach Museum is scheduled in September and this is in the running for what I may choose to get my students started.  She is beautiful, and her clothing is so interesting.  They'll love it.  What a Master ... DaVinci.

I'm excited to start my next portrait, which I believe will be a very interesting one for a very interesting competition.  It will be posted here as soon as it's done, so stay tuned!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger

Quick Post to get started again!

Hi folks,
Haven't posted in some time, my older computer died which messed me up until I got up to snuff on this new one.  It's 3 am and I woke from a sound sleep with an idea on how to get back on and it worked!  And so I will make a quick posting from recent events.

Below is "Girl with Wild Hair," and oil "Wipe-Out" painting I demoed at the Sebastian River Art Club.  Process is, I put dollops of sap green and alizarin crimson all over the canvas, then brush them together, slightly mixing them, leaving a rich red-brown covering with variations of greens and reds.  Then with a rag wrapped over my finger I pull the image out, refining it at the end with Q-tips, turpentine, and little touches of other color here and there.  It's fast and fun, and the audience loves it.  This is the second time I've done this one, the face of which was inspired by one of Rembrandt's ladies.

"Woman with Wild Hair" Oil Wipe-Out by Judy Burgarella

Another "sort of" portrait was part of a mural project Christine Thomas was doing on the exterior of a school.  She was nearing deadline and just ran out of time, so I pitched in and painted the principle parachuting, with a boat underneath, pictured.  Used acrylic, and it was tricky painting on the rough bricks, but ok for a quickie.

Detail from Mural at Vero Beach school, acrylic

I also added one of the teachers poised sitting on a turtle.  Christine painted the turtle, which is her forte.

Below is a beautiful portrait from a student, Eugene Dail, who was in the Vero Beach Museum class.  He finished it up in my studio under my direction, and did a fabulous job of his wife.

Eugene Dail with his acrylic portrait of "Kathy"

 Yesterday I pitched in at the Museum in a children's class, "Kidz Art" with Christine Thomas, and dropped off  the prospectus for my fall acrylic portrait class.  And so I will begin another session when the weather cools down.

Now that I have found the formula to update all my blogs, I will do so when time permits.  Hope you enjoyed this one.

Judy Burgarella,
Blogger

New Acrylic Painting

"Flamingo" 20" x 24" Acrylic Painting

This one doesn't fall into the category of an actual "portrait," but it is an animal portrait that just happens to have a little landscape in it.  I had planned to just do a base coat of acrylic, then overlay with oils in full detail, but got carried away when handling the acrylic and just finished it off.  Spent many days on this one, but it sure was a pleasure to do.  I must do more birds, I love the looks of them and they are all around us here on the Treasure Coast. This was painted from a photo I took at the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, a wonderful place to find animal subjects to paint.

"Flamingo" 20"x24" acrylic painting

I painted this for the Vero Beach Art Club's Art By The Sea show in the Vero Beach Museum of Art, next weekend.  Looking forward to that one, I'll be helping out with QC and hanging.  The Opening Reception is Friday night, 5-8.  Hope you can join us.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger