Portrait of Man "Smiley" Oil on Canvas

Oil Painting of Old Cesar Smiley

This portrait was so much fun and liberating to paint. It may look spontaneous but it is far from it.

I did three or four sketches first in charcoal and in color medium to get the values and composition the way I wanted it. Once I was happy with the concepts I sketched in charcoal the face on canvas and wet away from it for a while, (a couple of weeks).

After the time away from the project I looked the charcoal sketch over and analyzed it in a fresh light, sometimes I see things after a period away that I do not see at the time. I spent an afternoon and evening painting him and building up the layers and textures. Then put it away again for a time to let the oil cure on the canvas a bit, oil takes months to dry and if you get too much on the canvas it is not workable.

After a month I reworked the eyes, and the dark areas and made a major change to the hair by adding white.   A month later I reexamined the project and made some minor adjustments in values and areas of dark I added some blue and some low-lights to the eye on the right.

Today felt there was a need for a few touches here and there and determined it was done.

Please see the tab for pricing options to commission your own portrait in charcoal.

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Painting on Location in Ellicott City MD. The annual Paint Out.

I love to paint outdoors. There is no better way to develop as an artist no matter what ever your medium or passion.  The practice of painting outdoors put together all the other skills we learn into one endeavor.Today was the 2nd day of the Ellicott City Annual Paint Out.  What a great day I had! I met many wonderful people. No one ever says anything critical or negative. The other artist you meet are encouraging. Half the time we exchange contact info. I began by walking around the town for a while looking for my "Muse" the inspiration that would capture me and take me all the way through the process of turning a blank canvas into a statement of appreciation to God our Creator who allows mankind such gifts as archeture and cities. I found a church spire sticking above the trees over some old houses and chose to paint that. It was challenging to sort out some of the perspective and to render the houses correctly. I ended up editing. After a few hours I was lousing the light I started with and the shadows shifted so much that I was painting against the grain so I will need to return to finish the painting. 

After a break for a soda and to resupply my paper towels, ( I like to keep my brushes clean sometimes I wipe them clean after each stroke so the colors won't be contaminated), I relocated to the other part of town to paint a scene of a bridge. I only had about 2 hours of usable daylight so was not at all able to finish this second picture. I hope to get back at it tomorrow or some time this week.

Sunday I returned to finish the 2nd picture but still couldn't get done by the time when I had to pick up my daughter for church.  I will do a few last touch ups in my studio.

Here are the two paintings done on location in Ellicott City MD. I offered these two paintings for sale for $100.00 each unframed at the reception for the artist, which was an open to collectors and art lovers not only the artist. I was gratified that both pictures sold early in the event.