Kevin’s Painting Blog

I have noticed that the paintings which I end up being most pleased with are those that I was able to paint rapidly.  Take this dog painting I just funished - I whipped it out in 3 hours max.  I spent one hour on the underpainting, let it dry for a day, and then finished the rest the next day in one sitting.  Here’s how it went….

Day one, the under painting:

I did it in a thin wash of ultramarine blue because the dog had a orange/brown coat and wanted to use the complimentary color for it, hoping specs would show through in the final painting (which they did.)  This is where most of the time was taken on this painting.  I have found that if you spend time here getting your drawing correct, etc, it pays off big dividends later.

Day Two, Stage One:

First I laid in the darkest dark’s located under the chin and on top of the head.  Then I went in with the darker browns.  This took me no time at all, probably 20-30 minutes max.

Day Two, Stage Two:

Here, I went in with the lighter colors.  Honestly, from here on the painting went real easy.

Day Two, Stage Three:

From here it was just a matter of putting in the lightest lights, finishing the nose, adding a background, etc.

Probably one of the easiest paintings I have ever done. The blue specks that show through don’t show up well on this photo but I am pleased with how they come out on the finished painting.

Things I could have done - put in some reflected light around the chin in the form shadow using a bit of blue-green mixed with the red-orange.   Won’t change it now though - I already signed it.

Since there is an upcoming contest, I thought I would enter “The Trainer” but they told me it was too small - the contest is for sizes F10 or larger and “The Trainer is only an F8. What a ridiculous rule, but whatever. With 2 weeks before the entry deadline, I decided to paint something quick and size F15 or larger, which I am sure will still be considered “on the small side.” This town I live in is small and not exactly cosmopolitan, but what can you do?

This is a girl I met in college, we were both in the same Japanese class. She also took photography and gave me a black and white image that I happened to see and like. I immediately painted it, gave her the painting, and stored the image away, only to recently  pull it out again. This took me three sessions, it went rather quick. I think I spent about 8 hours on it total. I can think of a few things I could fix that are not right about it, but I am out of time.

Full Sized Image HERE

Although I started this during the summer, I just finished this painting on Christmas day. Not that it took me one half of a year’s worth of work, I think I may have put about 8 or 10 hours into it total. It consisted of three, one to two hour sittings with the model, plus about 3-5 or so hours in the studio.  My model here is a Japanese friend who has his own baseball training business.  The “R” on the shirt and cap stands for major league baseball  hitter “Reggie Smith”, who my friend trained with in the USA and whose training system he uses.

“The Trainer” - F8 Oil on Canvas

(Large version here)