Finished Red Chalk Portrait of Namii

A little bit ago I posted about a demonstration at Patricia Hutton Galleries where I started a drawing.  The portrait is now finished:

Namii, Jaime Cooper, red chalk on sanded pastel paper

Drawing demonstration at Patricia Hutton Galleries

I gave a live portrait drawing demonstration at Patricia Hutton Galleries.  Thank you to all who stopped to chat!  Namii is not finished yet, but I will post more pictures when she is.

Namii by Jaime Cooper (unfinished)

 

Patricia Hutton and Jaime Cooper during the demo

Upcoming Demonstration and Student Show

The Ligonier Art Walk is coming up on November 7, 2015.  I will be having a Student Art Show for my private art students, ranging in age from 8 to 80.  I will also be doing an oil portrait demo starting at 4 pm on November 7 at the studio.  It is free and open to everyone.  I will start from scratch and go through at least one color layer and discuss portrait anatomy as well.  I will have a projector set up so everyone can get a good close look at what I am doing.  I will probably be working from a photograph and will discuss the limits of and changes that need to be made when working from photos.  I will also be flipping views on the projector to anatomy diagrams so we can have an in depth discussion of how the underlying anatomy of the head influences the portrait.

A New Portrait Sketch

This is my most recent portrait sketch.  I was really attracted to the model because of her hopeful, whimsical expression, which I tried to capture here.

Hope, Jaime Cooper, 12 x 16 in., oil on linen, copyright Jaime Cooper

Ligonier Art Walk

Our next Ligonier Art Walk will be Saturday November 1.  The theme will be Ligonier Art Walk presents:  the Affordable Art Stroll.  All of the galleries around town will be open with new shows and events.  I will be hosting a Student Art Show for all of my current private art students.  I will again be presenting a live oil portrait painting demo during the evening.  More information later.  For all my students, start thinking about what you may want to submit to the art show.

Underpainting

Here is an underpainting for an oil portrait of a sculptor that I am currently working on.  My reference is a black and white photo ca. 1900.  I always do an underpainting as the first step to any oil painting.

Underpainting for Sculptor by Jaime Cooper

It greatly helps me to:
1.  draw the image (I don't do any drawing in pencil first)
2.  decide on major structural and compositional questions
3.  map out the value structure, especially placement of core shadows

I usually do them in either raw or burnt umber thinned to an ink consistency with turpenoid (and a little stand oil).  Sometimes with a landscape or still life I will use burnt sienna.  Every once in awhile I will go crazy and try something like purple or green.  This can be an interesting take on flesh tones for a portrait.  I use a brush, rag, or Q-tip to wipe out highlights.  After the underpainting is finished I will start painting the color layers over it.

Robert Liberace Paints

One of my absolute favorite contemporary painters, Robert Liberace, did an alla prima demo of a Civil War soldier at the Art League in Alexandria, VA.  This video is right up my alley as I started learning to draw and paint with historical subjects.

Live Demo Pictures from the Ligonier Art Walk

Many thanks to my beautiful model!  I rigged up a webcam and projected a larger image on the back wall so more of the audience could see how the portrait was progressing.  I painted for a little under 3 hours.

Ligonier Art Walk Live Oil Portrait Demo

Here is a photo of my live oil portrait demo during the Ligonier Art Walk. A huge thank you to my beautiful model and the audience. It was a blast! I will post some in progress pictures of the portrait later on.

Live Oil Portrait Painting Demonstration

Jaime will demonstrate an oil portrait painting from a live model in her studio starting at 4 pm on Saturday May 10, 2014 during the Ligonier Art Walk. Come by to watch, ask questions, and discuss art techniques. Everyone is welcome! The studio is located at 212 West Main Street, Ligonier, PA 15658.