Impressionist portraits

These are a series of portraits I have done predominately of people I know and am familiar with. When the markets and economy as whole plunged in 2008, I faced a diminishing market, to be polite. Portraits have always been a specific work driven form at best in the 2000s’ Should I adapt - how? should i become campy and trendy? Just not my way.


I simply started painting smaller - 8 x 10 in (20.32 x 25.4 cm) for my own state of mind practice and to keep working. No expectations, just friends and acquaintances I would take pictures with my iPhoto and if they were of interest I would paint them in a rather expressionist method. This for me is several steps away from a “formal” portrait where the colors a muted, the transitions are subtle and the focus is specific to that portrait. I have come to enjoy these greatly - example of the portrait dating back to the Venus of Willendorf forward includes many exaggerations of the human body that have enticed and has esthetically pleased people from the beginning of time. It would not be true to say that I don’t treasure the realism achieved by master artists because I seek them out as mentors of what is.

These are some of my pieces which may have saved my life.

-Gil

Jeffery & Tiffany Bishop

Jeffery & Tiffany Bishop

Veteran’s Day - "Back To The World"

When engaged in the minute by hour struggle, as warriors we dared not think about the “World” from where we came. 

Later - much later, I came to realize the duress, the struggle for people left behind to carry on as normal, carrying that gnawing fear of imminent harm; parents, friends, girlfriends, wife's, children, husbands. Their sincere attempts at relating to a different person that may have come back whole or in-part, but not whole. This is my acknowledgement of that sacrifice given by circumstance and resulting in trepidation by those waiting. For all time.

* My World *

Well, I’ve gone and done it... pictures of my refuge, sanatorium, art space, really a shed.  Sure takes the romantic artist scenario by the ears. But it’s my space and I get work done - nice music too. 

That is a thick sheet of glass I use for paints, I think it was a glass cutting board at one time. It is thick enough for me to feel secure in mixing scraping in order to clean up and generally sturdy enough not to take the wear.

So I lay out the colors that I feel I am most likely to use for a painting and then add colors as I go along. I don’t necessarily use a “minimal palate” nor an extended one. For the impressionist portraits that I have been doing recently 

Vasari paints: Cadmium red medium, viridian, cobalt blue, cadmium yellow light, transparent brown, zinc white, Peralba titanium white, Gamblin buff titanium, alizarin permanent, raw umber. 

Stevie

I'm continuing to do portraits of people at work; with students - and just about anyone else I can capture on the iPhone and then paint them in a 8 x 10 format.


It just keeps me busy between other paintings that I have going, and I think that they will make an interesting collage when I put them together. Portraiture is always about the individual, I want to make these works about the shared attributes.


I'm assured that her name is based on Stevie Nicks just to put that question to rest. 
Stevie is a person that I work with at Florida Tech.
If you send me a picture I might paint you too. Please send digital pictures to my e-mail : gec@mac.com

Ruth Bell

Well I'm continuing to paint people. This one is my mother-in-law, Ruth. I'll add to this post later.

Grill’n

I find little use for painting if I don’t occasionally add what I refer to as content to my work. More specifically, some current observations and experimenting with new symbols. For example, I use the skyscraper - well, not so new - the first was built in 1885 and was 10 stories high. Technology - phones, ipods, music players, cars, appliances seem to change; and do; on a monthly basis. Now there's some room for me to add contemporary and interesting objects for me to explore.

So, this rant brings me around to Grill’n, a way of posing for pictures, usually in groups of 2 or more. It’s an anti-portrait, totally apposed to the recognizable snapshot most of us expect. I like this painting - it is capturing an essence of modern life that I think will continue, a dissatisfaction with the status quo. Ah, the youth - the new - a rejection of me, the old - it's simply too natural. These girls - no women - no men/boys - age group - don't even see me; I am invisible to them. Out with the old; in with the new!
Grilli'n.


As this is a ‘portrait’, it creates a lot of problems for the painter; (that would be me), it needs to resemble the person(s) portrayed - but boy, does it tell a story!

More *Live* Drawings

I love these live drawings and I promise not to inflict too many of them on your sensibilities in the future. I simply don't know what will come of any one of them - one may start with great promise only to fail in my opinion, while another may succeed beyond expectation. No re-draws or extended time to capture - just get it down now.
These drawings are from a number of locations, a jazz band, a batter, catcher and umpire in women's softball, a woman at a Winter Park, Florida outside restaurant.