Thursday, January 15, 2015

Self portrait study 1


Self Portrait Study 1
8x10 Oil on Gallery Stretched Canvas
Beverly Gurganus

I have found comfort in painting from photos... Lighting never changes, subject never moves, and I can work at my leisure.  As I continue to grow, I find myself dissatisfied with settling in my comfort zone.  I was inspired by another artist who is an amazing portrait artist with beautiful self portraits.  So...yesterday I dug out a large mirror from the attic, cleaned it off, propped it up, and adjusted the lighting as best as I could in my studio then got to work.  I tried to limit my time sketching and gave myself permission to just experiment without great expectations.

Most of my recent portraits have been of cooler flesh tones so it took me a bit of trial and error mixing my olive skin tones.  I think I will try a few more selfie studies; then I will start enlisting other models...better keep my friends and family happy 😉

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Her and Hen


"Her and Hen"
11x14 Oil on Gallery Stretched Canvas
Beverly Gurganus January 2015

Out of the five people in our family, my youngest daughter (7 yrs old) has joined me in the love of raising backyard hens.  From the first day I brought those tiny fluffy chicks home she has been right by my side helping me take care of them.  She has become my Little Chicken Farmer.

I took a photo of my daughter with each of the 6 hens on their first day forging outside of the coop.  I fell in love with the photo of her holding our fluffy Buff Orpington and knew that it would make it to my canvas.