Kelli's mug

 The lovely Kelli Bland well before she turned....

oh and btw, we all shouldn't get so hung up on skin color...we're pretty much all the same color. White people just have more white in them. I painted Alex and Kelli with nearly the same palette, some ultramarine blue in Alex that I didn't use with Kelli.

Alex's mug

a few more strokes..... Alex.

So last week, one of my students asked me what the point was from working from life, if we can easily work from photos. This little study is from an okay snapshot. If I didn't work regularly from models, I could never create the nuances of light/shadow/color/planar effects here that naturally occur but cannot be seen in a photo. So.....work from life as much as you can!!!

Alex!! always glare issues with these freshly painted ones.... 8"x8". I decide to stop on these when I feel like I've worked enough on them for a study.

Initial block-in stage of mugshot of Alex: I'm painting this little one on top of an old one (which is why you're seeing pinks, etc.). I've always wanted to paint Alex....he's threatened to model for me years but still hasn't. So, this is an FB pic (that I found on his page) which I love because almost always, he's got a great gleaming smile on his face and looks like THE nicest guy....here, he looks very serious and possibly mean . It's clearly posed. So....now I will bring in the color.

Babyface

My angel will be 5 on Saturday. Here my little alien is a few days old. I just started it.....I'm trying out some flake white replacement and Gamblin's solvent free gel medium, a couple of the little gems I took home from the PSoA conference. ooooo la la!!

Jeff's mug

9"x6"

So after all these years, I have painted my man only four times: 2 times wearing slinky googly eyes glasses back in 2005 or so (after a short sitting supplemented with photos); then sometime thereafter during a live portrait demo. It was outside under the hot sun. He was sweaty from the sun; I was shaking and sweating from nerves; someone knocked over a cup of coffee on my palette...I didn't know *what* it was I was doing!! it was a terrible experience. So....now years later, here he is....from a crummy photo taken this weekend. Now enough time has past.....maybe someday, I'll be lucky enough to have him sit for me again.

Grant's profile pic

9"x6"

gotta love Facebook sometimes. My high school classmate posted a new profile pic the other day. I was smitten with it; I found it to be incredibly paintable. He gave me permission to paint it. Here is a little one....Grant, there will be more -- thank you.

Karlo is almost 5!

A few days before he turned 5!!!!!

Spring Studio Sale Apri 19th

 

I've been in production mode and need to make room for new work.  So.....I'm going to have a spring studio sale Saturday, April 19th from 11am-1pm.

And I'll take care of shipping.....so let me know if you've got your eye on something!

Have a look at my website and see what's available.  If the work is currently in my studio, I'd love for it to find a new home.  In addition, I've got plenty of studies too.
 

Another portrait workshop in June!!

 

The April portrait workshop in April at the Georgetown Art Center was wonderful.  I'm excited to do another one June 14-15.  Let me know if you're interested!

Late night painting

My man captured me burning the midnight oil in a maniacal self-portrait frenzy.....

Another foggy study

 

This is another little landscape study, 12"x12".  I'm loving the freedom I feel doing these.  I've been yearning for more abstraction and I'm able to let go more with this subject matter.  I'm gearing up for a big one soon!  

My lego boy

 

This is a little one I did of my lego-obsessed little angel.  I really need to capture these moments more frequently.  Upon comparing the initial block-in to the finished one, I think I'm partial to the earlier one.  I painted on top of an old painting.....had the surface been clean, I may have just left it.  

maps in progress

These are two little pieces of two different map paintings .... in progress. 

itty bitty study of an itty bitty island

 

I love this little island in the middle of my city.  This painting is small, 8"x6".  It was tough to get this little thing to make sense.  The design is simple.  It is more or less three values.  I tried to use some varying brushstrokes to articulate my subject matter.   I think it works.  I'm still deciding. 

a little portrait study progression

 

This is from reference material.  I really wanted to stay loose, keep the shapes big and stay true to my dark-light pattern.  I think my favorite stage here is the third one.  Though I don't have as much of a likeness to my model, I love the simplicity of this one.  I'd like to discipline myself to leave some of these in this state.  

My home

My home in full sunlight.  

land&waterscape

Little study of my favorite little guy taking a dip in one of my favorite spots.

Landscape

I haven't done many landscapes because I haven't been able to personally connect to them through paint though I consider myself to be a nature-lovin' gal. But something changed for me Saturday morning. While taking my early morning bikeride in the fog, I became inspired and felt something very personal in my immediate surroundings. This is a itty bitty one.

Head studies

I worked on these head studies from photos...so my plane information is limited. Trying to really consolidate lights and darks. 

MICROART!

"I took only one bite"
6"x8"
oil on board, $175
Message me if you want it!
(btw, reds are soooo tough to photograph --- the colors are a bit more vivid)

figure studies

figure studies

I've always wanted to paint a portrait of my friend and fellow painter, Ann Seago. I took some photos of her a ways back. She has such striking features and a beautiful presence. This is a little itty bitty one. Ann, you've been on my mind.

Selfie. I returned from a Peggi Kroll Roberts workshop yesterday. She's wonderful. I had some epiphanies!!! Did this SP this morning thinking about what I learned.

Nose & mouth demo done in purple yellow palette in my beloved portrait class. It's kinda funny ignoring the eyes, so not what I'm used to doing.

It's so hard not to glamorize a portrait....i.e. being careful not to make eyelashes heavier-looking than they actually are. I had to keep re-simplifying the lash lines. As I stare at myself in the mirror to do this study, I am reminded of the intriguing episode on symmetry on Radiolab and how asymmetrical we are, I am.

Eye demo

Eye demo from my portrait class.

MICROART: Olive juice xo

"Olive juice no matter what"

oil on board, 6"x8"

SOLD

"Olive juice so much"

oil on board, 8"x6"

$175 plus $6 s/h

To purchase: email me at jbalkan{at}grandecom{dot}net

MICROART!

"My cupcake bleeds for you"

oil on board, 8"x6"

$175 plus $6 s/h

to purchase: email me at jbalkan{at}grandecom{dot}net

Portrait Workshop and more classes!

I'm excited to be teaching my very first weekend workshop: Portrait in Oils at the Georgetown Art Center Sat/Sun April 5-6.

I have been teaching classes to private groups now for a number of years.  However, I feel myself to be at an exciting turning point.  I've decided to make some changes in the format of my classes in order for my students to be able to get even further in their work.

In my intermediate figure class specifically, I was feeling like we didn't have enough time to be able to methodically move through value study adding color, temperature and edges as we go in only four weeks.  Not wanting to take too much class time, I have made my demos very short.  But I'm realizing that there is so much more I need and want to show my students.  So, alas, the class will now be six weeks instead of four.  Yippeeeee!!!

As for the portrait workshop, I hope that students will be able to improve upon their overall approach to painting portraits with an emphasis on rich, harmonious color.  We will approach painting by learning to see our environment as composed of simple shapes and values, which will lead to stronger color statements and weightier paintings.  

So, come one, come all!!!

Oh and to see a list of my current classes, check out this link: http://jenniferbalkan.net/classes/.

My boys

I'm still slowly working on this painting, slowly because I keep getting sidetracked with my compulsion right now to do little studies.  I've been reading so much lately on color and painting methods that I've found myself in a bit of a crossroads.  That is, I've been working a certain way for some years now....but I'm yearning to try out some slightly different techniques.  There is so much to learn.  It is all so exciting yet often mind-boggling.  I'm constantly in awe by the phenomenal work by artists whose work I know far and wide.  It keeps me inspired and curious.  

Playin' around with flesh tones

 

 I thought I'd play.  I wanted to stay loose with juicy paint.  I envision doing some larger ones in this theme.  

Getting naked

I will be showing two drawings and one painting in a juried exhibition entitled "Explorations of the Nude Figure" at the UP Collective in Austin, Texas.  The show opens Saturday, February 8th at 7pm.

These works were originally part of my Disguised Nudes project back in 2008.  I had so much fun doing this project.  I learned that many of us want a legitimate excuse to be naked around others.  Art is such an excuse. 

Flirt, charcoal pencil on paper

 

Line-up, charcoal pencil on paper

 

Eve, oil on board

another figure study

"Strokes that started bravely but don't know where to go. Sometimes they bump into and spoil something else, or they may just wander about, or fade into doubtfulness." Robert Henri This is last night's 40 min. study ..... I think a lot about Henri's words when I paint. I love this path I've chosen but it's dang hard.

very short class demos

These are quick demos I have done over the month.  They present an alla prima manner with which to get down value information quickly and clearly.  We start with simplifying all information into three values: flesh in light, flesh in shadow and transitional half-tone.  

When working in color, we start with the same method: mixing a flesh color/value for the light; one for the shadow; and one for the half-tone.  Then, we begin making adjustments to the light and dark information.  

 10 minutes: monochromatic

 15 minutes: color start; red-orange / green-blue palette

 15 minutes: color start; purple yellow palette

15 minutes: color start; red green palette