Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Kelly Berkey's Weekly Sketch Challenge

Kelly5,  9 x 12 oil on board
Welcome to Week 5 of Kelly Berkey's Weekly Sketch Challenge.

Since  the little dog oil painting went well, I wanted to try Kelly's challenge in oil, too.  I had some fun trying different techniques for the background starting with a gold underpainting of acrylic to let some show through.  Unfortunately, not used to the dry time of oil, my hand kept resting in the background while painting  Kelly's face.  So I had to paint over all the gold flecks showing through at the top to fix it.  Oh well, we learn.

My favorite techniques are paintings with layers,  marks and colors showing through from underneath.   To get a little of this,  I scrubbed the red slip so the gesso and strokes would show and used the back of my paint brush to scratch marks at the top.

The biggest problem was making a tiny eye with my oil brush.  I'm so use to the softness of watercolor brushes that it felt like I was trying to paint it with a Q-tip. The brushes always seem to have a lot of stray hairs.  Anyone know the best oil brush for tiny details?  As for the color choices, I just go with what makes me feel good.  It's art right.

If you would like to join us, every week Kelly posts a picture of herself in a pose for you to sketch or paint or whatever.

12 comments:

Jill said...

Love it and as always your use of color is outstanding. do you prefer painting with oil, watercolor, or acrylic?

Heather said...

This is Stunning. I love the deep intensity and the way you work your colors .they just really draw me to your work...hmm, never worked with oil, i can imagine small spaces being difficult.

peggy aplSEEDS said...

wow, you work so quickly! this is lovely.

Kerry said...

Hi Diana, how do you get your finished picture to Kelly? I notice she posts the pictures on her blog too and I might like to give it a go.

IVYALLOVER said...

What a fun challenge! another nice piece! personally I just love oils. Its the beautiful buttery feeling of the paint. If there are hairs that stick out of place I just pull it out or cut it and eventually buy a new brush ♥

Marlene said...

I love this interpretation and the red is stunning. Lovely painting.

Juliette Crane said...

your paintings are just beautiful! i love your use of color and light! this painting of kelly is absolutely amazing! thank you so much for the inspiration!

xo, juliette

Mirjam said...

You have made a beautiful painting! I love the sparkle in her eyes and the colours to!

Art by Darla Kay said...

Your artwork is amazing Diana! It inspires me so much, thank you!

Terri Smith said...

Diana..This rendering is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! Love your palette and the expressiveness of Kelly's features. You should be delighted with yourself..this is true perfection.

Crystal said...

Love the color too! Love the red! :-)

Rona Gregory said...

OMG! This one is gorgeous! Absolutely love it

Ro