Grey Kitten Head

July 22, 2014 J R DunsterLeave a comment

I’ve missed the cat heads. Here’s a kitten head, but I fear I made this kitty a little more “mature” than the real kitten. This kitty looks like he or she is perhaps in her “teenage” years.

Cat fur is is fun to paint, but difficult. The markings, the softness, it can sometimes be tricky to capture. You’ve got to do it delicately, and with more subtle values. I enjoy the challenge and hope I’m improving in this area!

This was painted on a slightly different surface—I used Cheap Joe’s Prime Extra Fine Art Board. It’s 1/2″ thick, with a slot in the back for hanging. You can hang it as-is, or frame it as you would a regular canvas or panel. It comes unprimed, so I primed it with Winsor & Newtons “Clear Gesso” which was interesting. It is clear (though I think it’ll start to go opaque if you get it really thick) and it has quite a bit of tooth to it. I rather liked it, though.

Another kitten portrait is coming up very soon! Because if you’re familiar with this blog, you already know, I love painting the cat heads.

Hooded Man

July 16, 2014 J R DunsterLeave a comment

I don’t quite know how to explain why I chose this subject. I liked the expression and thought it was dramatic and evocative, I guess.

“Hooded Man,” oil on panel, 8×10 inches. Credit goes to djwar93 on DeviantArt for the stock photo I used as reference.

There was a lot of time spent on the values, shadows, and some on the colors (which areas were cooler, what areas were warmer?). The expression of the man came together on its own; he seems at times to me to be merely intense, thoughtful—other times he seems angry and sinister. I’ll let the viewer decide!

paintings · portraits

Lady in Green – portrait study

July 10, 2014 J R DunsterLeave a comment

This is a first for my blog, and I feel a bit geeky about it. I’m posting this from my studio! I have a nice computer set up here ($100 used Mac Mini–who says that these older computers are obsolete?) and have finally configured it to upload files to my site, scan and edit artwork in Photoshop, read photos from my digital camera, and the whole bit.

Anyway, back to the painting. I’ve fussed with this one for a few days and have to say I’ve very much enjoyed the process. The reference photo used had some lovely skin tones—warm and cool, subtle shifts in color, and a calm, and beautiful expression on the model’s face.

I’m also trying to paint a little more boldly and thickly, though I guess it’s not enough yet to be obvious in the painting itself.

“Lady in Green,” 6×8″ oil on linen panel. Thanks to WhimseyStock for the use of the stock photo as reference!

I used a DickBlick linen panel for this painting. I haven’t used this brand of panel before, but I have to say I enjoyed it. There’s something about the texture of linen, and I’ve really warmed to it. This is one of the Blick’s “high end” line of panels, I assume meant to compete with brands like Fredrix’s archival linen panels. I like both brands and will pick whichever is on sale!

paintings · portraits

Señorita, oil on panel

July 4, 2014 J R Dunster2 Comments

Back from a longish break (Colorado! I went to Colorado!). I did a fluffy cat painting the other day (need to create a blog entry about it) and tonight it is Señorita, a 10×10″ painting on panel.

This is another painting from my “novela” series (inspired by the Mexican soap operas, you can read more about it at the bottom of this post). I liked her expression—emotional, but not sad, beautiful, and slightly dramatic. And with lots of bright pastel colors!

I painted this on a 10×10 inch panel, with a textured acrylic primer (“gesso”). It’s an interesting texture that I’ve learned to like—it’s not always what I want, but sometimes it’s interesting to use it. The panel is thicker (around 1/2″ thick or maybe a bit less) with a dovetail slot (you can learn more about dovetail slots here). You can either hang the painting on the wall as-is (with the dovetail slot) or frame it like you would any other regular painting.