Click on palette and watch Judy paint a portrait in 2 minutes!

Click on palette and watch Judy paint a portrait in 2 minutes!
Click on palette above and watch Judy paint a portrait in 2 minutes!

Friday, August 21, 2015

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
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