Kelly Berkey's Weekly Sketch Challenge

Kelly Week 7 - 16"x 20" oil on canvas panel

Welcome to the 7th week of Kelly's Berkey's Sketch Challenge...When I started Kelly's challenge, I really didn't think I would keep up with it, but it's really addicting to me.  I think part of it is the really nice bloggers I've met,  and also because I've been stretched far beyond what I've ever done and painting in oil no less.  Anyway, on to describe the painting this week:

I was inspired by two artists for this challenge.  I love how Elizabeth Peyton uses bright colors in her portraits and the loose sloppiness of the her paintings.  So I painted the background very runny using mineral spirits to thin the paint. 

Here's a close up of her portrait. 

The second artist of inspiration was Malcolm Liepke.  Kelly told me about him through Terri's blog, "Dimples & Dragonflies".  His portraits are sensational.  He stylizes the women with larger eyes and redder, pouty lips. I made Kelly's eyes more expressive by adding a upper lid and not painting her eye with all black, even if that's all  I see in the photo.  It opens up her expression.  I couldn't do the pouty lips with a smile, but they are a little redder to stand out against her skin.  I painted her trident smile teeth in full mass, because it just looks nicer than painting each individual tooth.

Also, I added red from the couch into Kelly's hair.  I love the idea of colors bouncing around a painting and use this technique a lot. 

As I look at the colors of Kelly's portrait on the screen, I see the colors are in keeping with the upcoming Halloween festivities.  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.