Saturday, January 24, 2009

Elly

This portrait of Elly is the sister image (literally!) to the portrait of Sean that I posted recently. I have to ask Jared's Sister to take photos of the images in the BEAUTIFUL frames Jared handmade for them.

13 comments:

Vince M said...

This is another beauty, Peter. Love it!

Callan's Sketchblog said...

beautiful- you've gotten such personality into both portraits :D

Anonymous said...

Aww, this is beautiful! I really love it, especially the way you pulled off the blue shadows! <333

R.Dress said...

Well done Peter. I love her expression. Is that a smirk or a smile=)

MA.TO said...

wow man fantastic works....

John T Quinn III said...

let's talk about paint. do you use W&N? Are there colors you prefer by one manufacturer to another? do you have a set palette or do you mix and match to the subject as you see fit?
you've clearly developed a unique technical approach and your colors are consistent in the the two portraits.
what about brushes? The way i paint i got myself hooked on the Loew Cornell ultra rounds (series 7002) but they're harder to find. i've been working in oil ("working" sounds like i know what i'm doing but sadly, i don't) and trying out all sorts of brushes. i like the synthetic sables but, i go in knowing they won't last long. I'm using some Princeton brushes. I never heard of them before but, saw them and bought a couple at Pearl. I've still got a couple of those Loew Cornell ultras and i find myself relying on those too.
as you have done in these portraits, i am trying to develop a consistent and controlled illustration approach to painting in oil (as opposed to the more "direct" approach from life painting classes in college). Know what I mean? I'm struggling.
Also, I've been looking at the Reilly Palette and Marvin Mattelson's approach of mixing and tubing full range of hues and values.
anyway, another terrific portrait Pete!

Paule T.B. said...

question: you paint in acrylique or in oil? (a much simpler one)

merci. xx

Ricardo said...

Awesome job on the portraits Pete.
When are you gonna have the FIT figure drawing session up again?
And I have a blog now :)

Only one post though hahah

Patrick said...

Damn Pete! This one is real nice. you never cease to impress.

John T Quinn III said...

are you ignoring me?

Nicolette Davenport said...

this is gorgeous! love that expression. I almost could have sworn it was colored pencil.

Peter Emmerich said...

Hi,

Sorry for the delay and I would never ignore you my friend.

This is the first chance I have been able to write it all down. I have grown a fondness to the "Golden" brand of paint. I find the colors to be really vibrant and the viscosity very nice. Almost buttery at times but not like oil of course. I tend to lay out the same consistent palette every time I paint and I use a palette of about 12-15 colors in total (several tones of each) not including black (which I use so sparingly, if at all) and white.

As far as brushes I like the Loew Cornell Series 7000 and although they are synthetic I have found they last a fairly long time if I wash them well and condition them. I know it sounds fussy but it works for me. Funny that you mention the Princeton brushes because I use their synthetic sable series 4000 and I like them a lot. Control is a good word to use when I work because I try to keep everything consistent and all of my "recipes" of certain colors and tones very specific. When I started painting in acrylic I really had no idea what I was doing and there are times I still feel that I don't. I usually do a tonal underpainting in a siena color and then build on top of that sometimes using the paint in its original viscosity but a lot of the time I use glazes that I make with Matte medium. I started working in acrylic because I had only ever been taught technique in oil and found it difficult to get anything done in a timely fashion. I have always wanted to study the Reilly method because I am attracted to the palette and find it very warm and appealing. I have not worked in oil in years once I discovered I could make a picture in acrylic that was remotely worth looking at. Sometimes I think of working in oil on top of the acrylic underpainting and I am sure eventually I will pick it up again. I am sorry if this explanation is weak and I will try to explain it better or will take pictures of my palette and process the next time and post it here.

I would love to see some of your oil work as I am sure it is much more beautiful than you think. I think you and I prefer to be in control of the paint we use whatever the medium and I personally wish I could loosen up sometimes to let accidents happen and get a result I wasn't expecting. Even when I work in watercolor I don't let myself just be loose with it.

Thanks for your compliments and interest. Please engage me anytime you want...no one ever asks!

John T Quinn III said...

excellent and very informative. Thank you. The older i get the more i realize how important "fussy" is. I'm still experimenting with mediums and glazes in oil. it's definitely a slow process but, that's ok. gives me time to digest and think about it. i feel like it's a handicap I've got to overcome though I may ultimately say "I was happy with acrylic" ands go back to it.

I was taught to use a very limited palette

titanium white
lemon yellow
Cadmium yellow medium
cadmium red medium
permanent rose
cobalt blue
pthalo blue
pthalo green

it was a good way to learn about mixing color and i'm glad i took that class. but, over the years I've added ultramarine blue, yellow ochre, burnt umber.

anyway, i'm looking forward to seeing your palette.