second week of painting the portrait

This is the second layer of oil paint that I applied during the week. So far this portrait is taking longer than I would like. I am applying for 3 national art competitions this week so time has been diverted else where. I am going for a more tonal painting than I usually do with this portrait. I want a mood presented with the painting not just a portrait. I picked this image because I love the looks from my wife and two kids. Ashton (bottom left) was tired because he didn't get his nap that day and was really attached to Lisa. Chance (screaming kid in my wife's arms) was done with taking pictures and was ready for bed. Lisa, like Chance was done with pictures and holding the 20 pd kid. The best part about this image, it was the last picture I took of the family before we finally gave up and got the boys ready for bed.

The idea with this portrait was initially have a lot of objects in the background that describe Lisa and what she loves to do. After looking at all the images and thinking about what I wanted in this portrait I decided to make the background dark in value so the viewer is focused on the facial expressions given in the painting. I want people to feel it more so than read into a description of who my wife is. Anyways here this the second week of working on this portrait. I am up to about 30 hours now of painting.

beginning painting portrait

This is the beginning of the painted portrait, I usually start with an eye and paint as I go, but it is always good to change things up a bit. So to crit me too hard, it is just the beginning.

portrait drawing

This is the beginning of a portrait that I am working on for a portrait competition (we will see if I will finish it in time). I don't usually draw the figures in first but I thought I would try it out this time.

educated/uneducated artist

Well their are a lot of things to discuss on here. One of them is Motivation. What is my motivation? To tell you the truth..... I would have to say that it is the endless possibilities that painting provides. One could be a color painter, or value painter, possibly Chiaroscuro, photo realistic, impressionistic. Especially in these modern times of art any one and their dog does any type of painting they would like.
Because we are talking about art anything is up in the air. You don't need to know how to paint or draw to become an artist especially in the art world. People in the..... normal... no.... lets say consumer world (everyone else not in the art world) thinks that you have to know how to paint or draw to become an artist. The fact of the matter is that we have artists that have no idea on how to use a pencil or paint. Carolee Schneemann a great performance artist for feminism does a piece with her pulling a scroll out of her vagina in the piece entitled "Interior Scroll" Shock value seemed to be more important than execution of an image. Art has become concept based, who ever can think about a new idea and get it out into the world gets the giant golden coin. Skill has no merit in the world of Academic art, people don't care they want to see an image that sucks, but entertains their intellect.
Speaking of intellect why is it that most academic artists brains shut down when they see a representative painting? If the painting is executed and painted well, the academic artist says, "what you see is what you get!" Then they move on to the next painting. If the artist has a ton of meaning placed in their painting then the academic artist needs to have mystery through shotty painting or badly executed paint. On the other hand their are a lot of artists that are just doing paintings of wall furniture. They might be painted well but they contain no life or mystery. I am sure their is a way to be able to live in both worlds at the same time. Not as if one needs to be loved by both worlds but it would be nice to be accepted to a certain degree. But then again acceptance is only a word, why is it that we as social beings need to be accepted to anything?
I have a few friends that are exceptional artists, but as far as meaning goes...... well their is none. They might be making a great living right now (which makes other artists jealous) but in the end are they going to be like the artists we know of in the history books, or are they going to just fall through the cracks like most artists? Another tangent, Artist.... an over used word. At times I consider myself an artists, other times, I am just a painter of pictures.