Portraits by Judy Burgarella

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

More recent portraits

Been neglecting this blog for some time now, as portraits are done in drips and drabs. The below portrait on the easel was done earlier in the year, and I was retty happy with the way it turned out.

"Rembrandt" was a happy experiment in oils. Just for fun and as a Sebastian River Art Club demo, I slathered on a mixture of sap green and alizarin crimson with a big brush, actually squeezing the color in blobs out of the tube, and smeared it all on really thick. Then with a rag I wiped out the highlightd parts of the face, and in the end working on details with a Q-tip. Later at home I added scant whites and blues to the eye, and cad red to the lips. The rest of the color was there, embedded into the canvas from squeezing raw color out of the tube. This one is sold, but now I wish I had kept it.

Rembrandt "Rag Reduction" oil by Judy Burgarella

More to come soon ... I'm overdue to paint a "Self-Portrait" which is due June 1st at the Artists Guild Gallery, and it is now May 28th. Guess I'll have to do it in acrylic or watercolor, and paint really fast.

Judy Burgarella

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

PORTRAIT DEMONSTRATION VIDEOS JUST IN!

After popular request, my portrait demonstration videos are finally in. Each one is about an hour long, raw and uncut of the six demonstrations, and covers mapping of the face, how to paint a realistic eye, and the fundamentals of painting or drawing a portrait. The portraits were done at the Sebastian River Art Club in Sebastian, Florida. It was a weekly one-hour event, with live models and live audience.

The six mediums are:

Pencil - "Guido"
Charcoal - "Norwood"
Pastel - "Noah"
Watercolor - "Kathy" (not yet available)
Acrylic - "Patti"
Oil - "Tanya"

Price for each video is $10. When the watercolor video becomes available, all six can be purchased for $50.

Contact me in Sebastian, Florida at 772-581-8281, or my cell lat 772-584-9169, or email at bjburgarella@bellsouth.net

More of my work can be found at www.burgarellaart.com.

It was a wonderful experience demonstrating portraits in a varety of mediums, and very rewarding to know that all this information had been recorded and can now be shared with others who want to learn from my experience. A big "Thank You" goes out to Bob Barbour, videographer (eyesforlight@gmail.com), who recorded it all, and very well I might add in spite of his limitations with equipment and crowds. I hope you enjoy all the tips and techniques I offer, and that you are able to improve your skills as a portrait artist if that is your goal.

Happy Portrait Painting!

Judy Burgarella

Monday, February 4, 2013

Off the Easel

My latest, subject to tweaking as customer sees it. A beautiful woman in a pretty dress, such a pleasure to paint, especially once you get the eyes finished and looking at you. Just love doing portraits, and this one went quickly, although it had a rough start. I began this one as a demo in an art class at the Artists Guild Gallery. It's always a little embarassing for students to see a "works-in-process" painting as they always look so awful, especially portraits. It's the last half-hour where most of the excitement happens ... and it does happen. But I always love to see it framed, and so here it is, still wet, but with a nice frame. This painting was done with water-soluble oil paints, a new medium for me and one which I will use again. Not quite as good as traditional oils, but no smell and cleans up with water--so much nicer!

If you would like to see more work like this, come to the Sebastian Art Studio Tour and visit my studio - click on www.SebastianArtStudioTour.com for more information.

Judy Burgarella

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Welcome to Portraits by Judy Burgarella

This blog is a sampling of my portraiture, and it has been created for the purpose of providing information about the portrait demonstrations that were conducted at the Sebastian River Art Club, 1245 Main Street, Sebastian. Portrait demonstrations were held from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on consecutive Tuesdays, and were FREE and open to the public on the following dates:

PORTRAIT DATE AND MEDIUM:

August 28 - Pencil - below is the pencil portrait of Guido Costa, member Kathy Costa's husband, who posed for me for that demonstration. It was a little more than half finished, and the rest I did in my studio. It still is not finished as I did not have a photograph to go by, but I he promises to pose for me again so I can finish up the likeness. Then it will be his.

Guido Costa - Pencil

September 4 - Charcoal in black and white - Pictured below is Club member and Artist Norwood Stanhope who posed for me for the Charcoal demonstration. This portrait was about half finished also, and was another one that I finished up in my studio. Actually this one is not finished either so Norwood "Stan" will have to pose for me again, as I had not photo.

Artist-member Norwood Stanhope - Charcoal

September 11 - Pastel - Below is an about 1/4 finished pastel painting of Noah Lavender, the nephew of Club member Susan Lavender. This portrait is still at the ugly "alien" stage, but I can tell by its start that it will be a great finished product. He was adorable and had a very interesting face to piant (the industry calls "drawing" with pastels "painting"), however an hour is a long time for a growing boy to sit still. So there was yawning, fidgeting, smiling, blinking, stretching, and all the squirming a 10-year-old bored boy could muster up. When I finish this painting I will post the finished product. Can't wait to get back to it.

Got back to it this past weekend, and here are the "before" and "after" paintings. On the left was where I left off at the demo, and on the right is quite a few hours later. For this one I had a photo--a Club member sent it to me so I was able to get a good likeness at home. Just got a new camera thank goodness, and now I'm back in business myself. Noah is almost finished, just needs a few tweaks.

"Noah Lavender" Pastel by Judy Burgarella

September 18 - Watercolor - that's next, so don't miss it! Following are a couple of samples of watercolor portraits - but I will be painting a new one based on my model, artist Kathy Costa.

Got back to Kathy last weekend, and here's the finished product. I hadn't done watercolor very much lately, but I plan on revisiting this exciting medium again soon. The wonderful spontaneity of it thoroughly engages me in the instant splashes of color--unlike other mediums which come to life more slowely. This medium is worth a try if you have yet to explore it. And oh that red hat, what fun!

Artist-member Kathy Costa - Watercolor

September 25 - Acrylic
Below are two examples of acrylic portraits. Tuesday, September 25th my model will be Artist Member Patti Goins. Don't miss it!

Finished up Patti Goins' Painting, below ~

"Patti Goins" Acrylic

October 2 - Oil

Below is journalist and photographer Tania Ortega-Cowan. A few more tweaks, stretching on stretcher bars, frame and it's done. A very pretty girl, and I am happy about this one.

Tania Ortega-Cowan, oil, 24"x20"

Detail of Tania Ortega Cowan

Thanks to all who attended any or all of "Art of the Portrait" demonstrations. I hope you have enjoyed watching me paint, and viewing all the wonderful art in the Sebastian River Art Club's meeting place.

For information about joining the Sebastian River Art Club, visit www.sebastianriverartclub.org , and for information about what's going on in SRAC's Art Center visit www.artcenter-srac.blogspot.com .

Following are samples of my portrait work.

~ PENCIL ~