More Alla Prima Portraits

Still practicing up for the Face-Off at Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA on August 16, 2013, from 6-9 pm. Here's a post about my first set of alla prima practice pieces.

Next on the easel was my future son-in-law, Will. Will was also my model for The Mariner, The Incognito Project. 

In the first 20 minutes I did a line drawing using burnt umber paint straight out of the tube. My canvas is a Fredrix, Pro, Belgian Linen, previously stained with Gamblin Fast Matte, in a combination of transparent earth red and ultramarine blue.

More about my pre-mixed flesh color palette here. 

During the second 20 minutes I added a little background, placed the nose, lips and started laying in the beard.
Click Read More to see the rest of the in-progress pictures below the break.

They Went Incognito and Still Got Recognized

Three of The Incognito Project paintings have been named Finalists in The Artist's Magazine's the 30th Annual  Competition. Woohoo!

These paintings are The Mariner, Professor Rattus and Her Royal Court, and Home Maker.

These are paintings from my portrait series completed last fall, and included in The Incognito Project book. The book is available on Amazon, on my website, or in the side bar of this blog.

For all the veracity implied by her meticulous and unflinching style, the works maintain a seductive fantasticalness and seem to dance a jig on the line between the real and the imaginary.
                         ~ Graham C. Boettcher, Curator of American Art, Birmingham Museum of Art

Click Read More below for more about the project and a video.

The Alla Prima Portrait - Ten Thousand Hours

I've been practicing for the Face-Off event that is happening at Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA on August 16, 2013, from 6-9 pm.

It will be a live painting demo at the gallery in which I'll be painting the same model as Mia Bergeron, Cindy Procious and Rachel Constantine. We did it last year and it was super fun! DC area artist Suzanne Lago Arthur did a great post about the event last year on her blog.

Photo by Suzanne Arthur Lago from last year's event.

Nothing like the prospect of painting with a bunch of super talented artists in front of a live audience to inspire one to practice!

In an attempt to sharpen up my alla prima (all in one sitting) oil sketching skills, here's what I've been up and what I've been figuring out.

Dan, 20x16, oil on canvas

More about the set up, the painting process and other sketches below the break.

Eleven Reasons Why YOU Should Publish an Art Book or Catalog

Surprise! I have a guest blogger today, Amy Leigh Strickland. You may have seen her posts in my blog roll. She writes about the craft and business of writing and about her books. Take it away Amy!

My name is Amy Leigh Strickland, and I am Terry’s daughter-in-law. Regulars to this blog know me from a series of paintings I’ve been in, including Athena, The Incognito Project, and If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On. I’m a novelist and a teacher and I’m here to talk to you about art books.

Ripe Was the Drowsy Hour, 18x24, oil on canvas over panel.
This is one of my paintings in which Amy plays model and muse in my gypsy series.
This painting will be in Alexandria, VA at Principle Gallery for the Face-Off, August 16, 2013.

Publishing an art book is easier now than it has ever been. You no longer have to wait for a big New York company to recognize you to get a book out there. Whether your work sells for thousands at galleries, or whether you’re making most of your income off of fan conventions and RedBubble shirts, there are TONS of reasons to publish an art book. In fact, I’m Kickstarting a project right now to teach anyone how to self-publish their book, and the design portion is being written by Carly Strickland, who designed The Incognito Project book.

So here is my list:

The Indie Guide to Indie Publishing

Matter Deep Publishing has a Kickstarter

running through August 13, 2013. 

They hope to raise $8000 to produce a step-by-step guide to indie publishing from people who have been there and done that.



Nine indie writers and artists will share their expertise in the book. The publishing world has changed forever and independent publishing has never been more accessible to artists and writers. While desktop publishing is within everyone's capability, there are some tricks of the trade. These authors are here to guide you through the do's and don'ts.

You may pledge to pre-order the book for $15, or get the digital download for only $5, as part of the backer rewards and they have a bunch of other  cool swag too!

The Topics Covered:

Richard J Demato Fine Art Announces The Women Painting Women Artists

RJD Gallery is hosting it's 1st Annual Women Painting Women Exhibition. It is a juried show of
favorite paintings of women by women, with a focus on contemporary, living artists.

Opening Saturday, September 21, 2013

I'm so pleased to announce that my painting Primavera, has been accepted to show alongside the work of 29 other artists. I'm thrilled to be showing with so many artists I've long admired!

Primavera, 24x24, oil on panel

Also included in the show: Erin Anderson, Melinda Borysevicz, Ann Chwatsky, Elaine Despins, Teresa Elliot, Loretta Fasan, Ingrid Cappozzoli Flinn, Noelle Giddings, Haley Hasler, Pam Hawkes, Barbara Kacicek, Anne Marie Kornachuk, Andrea Kowch, Maria Kreyn, Catherine Lucas, Victoria Novak, Teresa Oaxaca, Isabel Olivares, Kat O'Neill, Claire Klarewicz-Oskur, Joyce Polance, Rene Porter, Kyla Zoe Rafert, Harriet Sawyer, Victoria Selbach, Margo Selski, 
Adrienne Stein, Maggie Taylor, Xiaolu Zhang.

Women have been a main subject in art as far back in history as any of us can think.  And yet that subject has predominantly been presented from the perspective of male artists.  Women Painting Women (the blog, the exhibitions as well as our small group) has continually tried to feature and promote paintings that share a different perspective.  We frequently wonder - do women see themselves differently?  Are women artists representing a bit more of what it means to be a woman, in the art that they create?  We argue that women are not merely eye candy or decorative fodder.  We seek to promote the work of figurative painters that share these more varied and complex views of women. ~Alia El-Bermani on behalf of the Women Painting Women group

See below the break for a few details of the painting and more info about Women Painting Women:

Women Painting Women Call for Works!

Richard J Demato Fine Arts Gallery in Sag Harbor, New York is doing a WPW show and female figurative artists are invited to submit work.

Click here for submission details.

You probably are familiar with the Women Painting Women blog and the various shows that have been popping up over the last few years. There was the Robert Lange Studios show in 2010, the Principle Gallery, WPW: Expedition and Beyond show in 2012 and this fall, 2013 the WPW: (R)evolution show at Principle Gallery.

Some of the artists involved with WPW had an idea to encourage artists, galleries and museums to host their own WPW shows concurrently with the Sept. 2013, Principle Gallery WPW:(R)evolution Exhibit.

How to Draw and Paint Facial Features Part 2

It's all about the eyes and mixing flesh tones this week.

This a project I'm doing with the oil painting class I teach on Tuesday mornings at Forstall Art Center in Birmingham, AL. We are doing small studies of each facial feature. Eventually we will do a complete portrait with the skills gained by studying the features individually. Here's Part 1 in which I drew the eye.

In the last post, the painting was at this stage.  My disclaimer here is that this is just what I do. There are many different methods out there but this is what I have developed over the years. It works for me.

I am constantly trying new things but for now this is my go-to starting place. I develop 4 basic flesh tones. Having a method helps me and seems to help my students.

Toga Night at Drawing Group

The first Tuesday of every month we have a clothed model at drawing group. We have 20 minutes worth of gesture poses and a one hour long pose.

Tuesday's Toga, 12x9, oil on panel

It is a good idea to attend a costume night for several reasons. We get practice drawing all that pesky fabric and one night of the month it's pretty easy to find a model.

 It's the X's Drawing Group held at Forstall Art Center in Birmingham, AL. We meet Tuesdays, 7-9pm.

Here's one I did of my daughter-in-law, Amy Strickland, when she was gracious enough to model for the group. Amy is actually a writer not a rock star and she has the best costumes around.

The Pink Guitar, 12x8,  oil on canvas paper

Renaissance Amy, 12x9, oil on oil primed linen

And my personal favorite of her.

"Tuesday Night Blues", 12x9,  oil on panel

How to Draw and Paint Facial Features - Part 1

It's all in the eyes.

I'm doing a series with the oil painting class that I teach at Forstall Art Center, in Birmingham, AL. We will be doing small studies of each feature of the face and then putting it all together at the end with a full portrait.

I printed out two good reference photos of eyes to share with my class. They will have the option of which one to paint. (Thanks Jeanine for the in progress shots!)

Is it fair to make your class paint images of your favorite models, even if those models happen to share the same DNA? I submit that it is. Moving on.

We talked a bit about the structure of the eye as in this except from Andrew Loomis' book. 

Since every artist needs to work on their drawing skills we are doing a full value study in charcoal or pencil. I started off in pencil and quickly switched to charcoal after figuring out that my students could see charcoal marks better. 

I started off the drawing with a block in, taking care to measure placement on the page, checking angles and proportions. This sketch is larger than life just for fun.

Next I added shadow shapes and worked on cross contour hatching. I think aobut the lines I'm making the same way I do the eventual brush strokes. Use directional strokes to describe form.

This is what I finished in class. It could definitely use more work. Read below drawing tips to help resolve any work.

Sepia Love

More drawing group sharing.

5 minute gesture painting, oil on Vellum, 9x12

Anders on Tuesday, 14x11, oil on Ampersand Gessobord

I'm having much fun with these value studies. At this drawing group we only get one hour with the model so it is a lot of pressure to get color down. For now it is nice to be keeping things a little looser and simple. Also it is a good idea to go back to basics every now and then and think about concepts like value.

The oil on the vellum slides around with slippery goodness and feels on the verge of out of control. Kind of exhilarating.

On the more sustained piece, I started with a thinned out mixture of burnt umber, more OMS than linseed oil, gradually adding more paint, till I was painting straight out of the tube for the darks.

You may see some other posts about sketching with oil here.