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    All images are Copyright Protected and the property of Jamie Williams Grossman. Paintings and photos displayed on this site may not be reprinted, copied, downloaded, displayed elsewhere, or used for any reason without her written permission.

    ------------------------------------- CUSTOMER REVIEWS

    "OMGGGGG, Jamie!!!! It's absolutely amazinggggggg!!!!!! I loveeeeee it!!!!!! This is sooo much more than I could have imagined!!! Thank you!!!!"

    "It's spectacular, Jamie!!! How talented you are! We absolutely love it! And you are right-the frame is just perfect for it! "

    "Happy" with it is an understatement! My sister's husband said, "Wow, it's beautiful!" That's a lot of emotion coming from him! haha. And my adult daughter said, "OMG MOM, ITS GORGEOUS!". You have added to your fan club!

    "Jamie, your painting arrived in perfect condition! And, as I expected, it looks even better ‘in person’ than on the computer screen. Thank you so much for your careful packing and wonderful painting."

    "...Today I finally surprised [my wife] with the actual painting! It is her birthday! And I just wanted to let you know the we both absolutely love it!! She was so so surprised, and just speechless.... Thank you again for being so flexible and good to work with! It was such a joy preparing for today and I appreciated your professionalism throughout the process!"

    "I love the new painting! It's actually a little more golden and fluid than it looks in the pic and I love the movement; everything in my house is a little on the warm and yellow and gold side so it could hang pretty much anywhere. It's going to the framer shortly and I look forward to having it up :-)"

    "Jamie, it's lovely!!! Thank you so much for all the time and love you've put into it! You have no idea how much joy your work is bringing to me. I'm very grateful!"

    "I just wanted to share that my father-in-law absolutely LOVES your painting. He loves the frame and said that he's never owned a real oil painting. ???? But most importantly, he loves the subject matter and he and my husband spent a lot of time reminiscing this morning about hikes they took there years ago. This part of the Hudson is, by far, their favorite! Thank you SO much for making this Christmas gift PERFECT."

    "Your paintings of my beloved Hudson Valley are stunning! I've always loved Hudson River paintings, and can't believe that I've found someone who is following in the great tradition of Cropsey and company! "

    "We received your painting yesterday and it's really very beautiful. Thank you again very much."

    "Your beautiful "Autumn at Rockwood" arrived in perfect condition two days ago. It is even more lovely in person than I ever could have imagined. Thank you so much for your artistry and your many kindnesses to me..... I will treasure both of my paintings very much ..."

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    "I just wanted to let you know that I received [the painting] today! It is beautiful, thank you so much:)"

    "Your [miniature] Caillebotte arrived today. Wow, it's WAY better seeing it in person than viewing an image/photo of it. Spectacular..... Thank you so much!!"

    "It's beautiful. Thank you so much!"

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    "Hi Jamie, I received painting yesterday. It's really beautiful! Thank you for sending so quickly. I'm sure it will give my friend hope and strengthen as she faces this battle with Parkinson's. Thank you!"

    "Jamie, My painting arrived Thursday and I love it. I will definitely order from you again."

    "[They] love the painting. They were so surprised. They really appreciate it and the thought and artistry behind it. They received many [wedding] gifts, and said this was one of their two favorites."

    "[My husband] loved loved loved the painting! It is hanging on the wall in my great room. It's just beautiful!"

    "Hi Jamie! The beautiful paintings arrived safe and sound this afternoon. I love them! (Boy you don't mess around with packing them ;) Thank you."

    "Hi Jamie –I thought you’d enjoy seeing “The Red Barge” framed. Until I give it to my husband on his birthday, I have it hanging in my office. I LOVE looking at it all day!"

    "I received the painting this morning. It is SO FANTASTIC!!!!!! I wish I would have had it done larger. Thank you! thank you!"

    "The East from Hunter Mountain painting arrived the other day. It made it through the snow and looks great. Thanks for everything."

    "Jamie, my wife and I love it. Thank you and great work. It was difficult trying to figure out a special gift for them......I'm very happy that I reached out to you. I know they will love the painting and the special touch you did with the card! "

    "Wow, it looks AMAZING! They are going to love it. I love the name too. Perfect. ... Thanks again!"

    "Your lovely painting of a sweet bird, framed beautifully, arrived last week.... I just adore it!!... I see it and injoy its beauty every day! Thank you so much!"

    "The painting is beautiful! I love it! "

    "Just a quick note to let you know your [miniature] Monet arrived in perfect condition. It looks fabulous!!! Thank you again so much."




    ------------------------------------------ If you haven't seen the two-DVD set, "The Impressionists", you don't know what you're missing!

    the-impressionists.jpg


    I rented it from Netflix and absolutely loved it. It is an enactment of the lives of Monet, Renoir, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, and other Impressionist painters living at that time around Paris. Fascinating and eye-opening!





Archive for the 'Portraits and Figures' Category

The Wedding Day

Posted by Jamie on December 1st, 2016

160901-the-wedding-day-700
(Click image to enlarge.)

8×10″, oil on linen panel
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

This commissioned New York City wedding scene was a surprise gift for the bride and groom from one of the guests at the wedding.

Fishing at North South Lake – watercolor miniatures

Posted by Jamie on August 26th, 2015

SAMSUNG CSC

QoR Watercolors on Fabriano Artistic cold press 140#
1. 5×3.5″, matted to 7×5″
2. 5×3.5″, matted to 7×5″
3. 5×7″, matted to 8×10″

SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

Figure Montage No 4

Posted by Jamie on February 10th, 2015

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16×20″, iridescent and interference acrylic on archival matboard
Varnished to be framed without glass (like an oil painting)

$400.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This montage was done in open studio, using iridescent and interference acrylics. It makes the painting hard to photograph due to the glimmering of the paint. It is a very challenging way to work because you never know what pose the model will take next! You can end up with an empty space on the panel, and a pose that doesn’t suit the space. Some of them work out compositionally and some don’t. I felt this was one of the lucky ones, where all the poses could work together. I love doing these. It’s so different from the other work I do, and gives me the opportunity to work outside of my box.

Below is an image of the painting that you can click on for a larger, clearer view:
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Portrait in Red

Posted by Jamie on August 4th, 2013

11×8.5″, mixed media on paper
$200.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This is a portrait of Rebecca West, painted from an old book of black and white celebrity photos. Working from black and white images can be very liberating, as it frees up my color sense and gives me all the information I need in the form of values only. This background was done in acrylic in several layers using many different printing and painting techniques. Over that, I painted the portrait with fairly thick watercolor, allowing the spatters and drips to happen where I felt they would most benefit the piece. I’m planning to do a series of these, but probably won’t be able to do more of them for a few weeks.

Dancer After Degas

Posted by Jamie on September 11th, 2012

120907-Miniature-Dancer-After-Degas-600v

1.75×2″, including frame
Acrylic
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

Do you have a favorite painting by an Old Master? These miniature copies are done on a commission basis. Please contact me at JamieWG@aol.com if you’d like me to paint one for you. I am currently accepting holiday commissions. If you or your Special Someone have a favorite, this is the time to place your order for the holidays. These miniatures are $150 including the frame and easel, plus $10 shipping and insurance. Collect a bunch of your favorite paintings for a beautiful table display!

Figure Montage No 3

Posted by Jamie on April 4th, 2012

120403-Figure-Montage-No-3-12x16-gf-450

12×15.5″, Interference Acrylics on sealed Mi Tientes paper
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

Every once in awhile, an experiment takes place that makes me so happy I want to sing and dance. That’s what happened here. In preparation for a life drawing session, I decided to experiment last night with some of the Golden Interference Acrylics. I’ve been using them quite a bit for my surface preparation on dark supports, but I hadn’t actually tried painting with them. I am so happy with the way this turned out. The figures almost seem to move as the light dances across the shimmery, metallic paint.

I was initially sorry I didn’t have any sketchbook pages prepared with the Golden Black Gesso. However, given the way this turned out, that was actually a good thing. I had a 12×16″ spiral pad of black Mi Tientes paper. I’d even previously sized a page of it with Matte Medium, which I cut out of the pad (hence the reason why this montage is 12×15.5″ instead of 12×16″) It was ideal for this purpose.

I worked from some photo references. That sure did make it easier in terms of selecting poses that would work in the piece. Since I always do these in open studio with a model, I am used to taking whatever pose the model gives the group, and trying to make that work within the composition. I can certainly see the benefit to doing some of these from photos for that reason, though I do prefer doing them from life.

What I was trying to find out was whether or not I’d like painting with the interference paints on a dark ground. I have to say, I like it lots! I will definitely be doing some of these on my 16×20 boards too, now that I see the results on paper.

Below is an image that you can click on to see a larger view of the painting. I might try to make a video of it later, so that you can see how it shimmers in the changing light.

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Figure Montage No 2

Posted by Jamie on March 30th, 2012

120318-figure-montage-16x20-450

16×20″, Acrylic on archival board
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

These montages are such an interesting challenge. You never know in advance what pose will come up next, so getting them to fit together compositionally is sometimes like attempting to make a jigsaw puzzle out of mismatched pieces! I like the way these poses came together though, and when she decided to do the last pose lying down, it gave me that nice horizontal element across the bottom.

This surface is a black archival drawing board. I coated it front and back with matte medium to protect and seal it, as well as provide additional tooth. The matte medium keeps the paint workable a bit longer also, since the water doesn’t absorb into the surface. After sealing the board, I put a stencil rid over it, and sprayed it with diluted interference and iridescent acrylics to give it some visual texture, depth and shimmer. Then I painted the figures in acrylics over the top. It will be clear-sealed again, this time with gloss medium, and varnished. That way, it can be framed just like an oil painting, without glass.

Below is an image that you can click on to see it larger:

120318-figure-montage-16x20-800

Figure Montage — Acrylic on Board

Posted by Jamie on March 14th, 2012

120314-Jeanne-Montage-16x20-450

16×20″, Acrylic on archival drawing board
$295.00 plus $25 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This figure montage was done in open studio life drawing from poses that ranged from 30 seconds to 20 minutes. I prepared a 16×20″ black and iridescent support in advance, then layered the poses on top of that background. I did blue and purple figures on the shortest poses that began the session, since those colors tend to recede. I layered warmer colors over cooler colors, and let the poses overlap and interweave. Great fun!

This painting was done as an acrylic on board so that it can be framed without glass like an oil painting. The archival board was sealed on both sides before painting. It will be signed and then receive two isolation coats, followed by a coat of beautiful gloss varnish. It will fit any standard 16×20″ frame.

Below is an image that you can click on to get a larger, clearer view:

120314-Jeanne-Montage-16x20-720

Mimi in Watercolor

Posted by Jamie on March 11th, 2012

120307-Mimi-450v

12×9″, Watercolor on Mi Tientes paper
$100.00 plus $5 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This is a watercolor painting from open studio life drawing last week. We had a fabulous new model. Most of the session I painted in my sketchbook, but I pulled out some nice paper for this pose.

You can also see a montage of the very quick gesture poses in my sketchbook at this link. I really like the way this experiment came out, so I’ve prepared some black supports to upgrade my materials and do more this week. Stay tuned!

Woman with a Parasol After Monet

Posted by Jamie on April 22nd, 2011

110422-Woman-Parasol-After-Monet-MM-450

1.5×2″ (unframed size), Golden Fluid Acrylics
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

Here’s another of my tiny “Micro Master” paintings, this one after a Monet favorite. Figures are especially difficult in this diminutive size, but I love the challenge! The quarter in the photo is for size reference, so you can see how small these really are.

These miniatures are so difficult and time consuming that I only do them on a commission basis. It’s a labor of love! If you either have a favorite painting by a Master in mind or would like me to choose one for you as a commission, you can email me at JamieWG@aol.com.

Late Day Fishing on the Hudson River

Posted by Jamie on April 8th, 2010

100408-Late-Day-Fishing-Hudson-8x16-GO-4502

8×16″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sealed, primed hardboard
$425.00 plus $25 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past couple of days looking at my photo references. Usually I set aside photos that I take that appeal to me for paintings, and place those in a separate file. From time to time, I look back through ones I did not select, and usually find many that appeal to me now, though for some reason they did not grab me at the time. This photo is one that I took a couple of years ago, but happened to stumble upon it yesterday and saw it in a new light.

I did this painting with four of the new Golden OPEN colors: Prussian Blue Hue, Cadmium Yellow Dark, Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide, and Quinacridone Crimson, plus Titanium White. In the end, I also used a little Cadmium Yellow Primrose in the greens to increase the “sparkle factor”. I love these new colors! The Cadmium Yellow Dark mixes rich, warm greens. The Prussian Blue Hue is clean enough for skies, yet muted enough to not take over the painting, and mixes very deep darks (as I was hoping). The Quinacridone Crimson is going to become the new cool red on my palette. Transparent Yellow Oxide is a color I frequently use for underpainting and glazing in both oils and Golden Fluid Acrylics. I’m so glad that I have it now in OPEN as well!

I still vividly remember this bright, late afternoon at the Vanderbilt Mansion property along the Hudson River in Hyde Park, New York. It’s one of the best sunset locations that I’ve ever encountered, and one of the few parks where you can drive right to the river (though they do close the road to the river on weekends). I haven’t done any plein air painting there for a long time, but I think I will change that soon!

Portrait Sketch of Troy — Left Profile

Posted by Jamie on November 19th, 2009

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12×9″, Pastel on Art Spectrum sanded paper
$325.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This is my first portrait since last winter — a two hour sketch from life. The model sits for three consecutive sessions, but I prefer to use them as sketching opportunities, and generally try to wrap up in a single session if possible. This model, Troy, is new to the art center. We’ll have two more sessions with him, so I plan to do others from different angles.

I’ve always felt that portrait and figure drawing and painting keep me honest as an artist. When painting landscapes, we can move a tree from one side of the scene to the other, enlarge a mountain, and put in clouds where there are none. But with portrait and figure painting, you can’t transplant somebody’s nose to where their mouth should be, or put a foot on the end of their arm!

Once the cold weather gets underway, I go into the portrait or figure studio a couple of times a week, using the winter to sharpen up my drawing skills. It really helps my winter doldrums too, since I’m not fond of plein air painting in the frigid weather. By late fall, I start looking forward to the change of subject and venue that winter brings. After a winter of studio landscapes, and portraits and figures from life, I feel really charged up about getting out for plein air work again in the spring.

Today I dove in for the first time this season, both in subject and medium. I hadn’t broken out the pastels for quite some time (although I’ve been talking about it for a month or so), and it’s my first portrait of the season.

Naomi in Watercolor

Posted by Jamie on January 10th, 2009

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12×9″, Watercolor on Arches 140# hp
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

Susan in Watercolor

Posted by Jamie on January 8th, 2009

090108-susan-600

11×14″, Watercolor on Arches 140#hp
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

Three Hour Pose in open studio

Posted by Jamie on June 11th, 2008

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18×12″, soft pastels on Wallis
$395.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I haven’t done any pastel work for quite some time, so I decided to bring my large Dakota box of pastels to open studio this week.There’s everything under the sun in that box, all mixed together and sorted by value and color.

This has been a tough week. My poor husband got food poisoning, and I hurt my back yesterday trying to move a cabinet, so my artwork may well be a little sporadic for the next week or so. I miss it already.

The Secret Is Out! New Golden paints revealed….

Posted by Jamie on May 2nd, 2008

Path Through the Open Land Foundation
8×10, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Multimedia Artboard
Please email me if you are interested in this painting.

It’s been sooooo hard for me to keep this under wraps, but the time has finally arrived when I can share the great news! Everybody’s been asking me this year what acrylic paints I’ve been using that look so much like my oils, and I have to hem and haw and politely change the subject……until now. Golden Paints has developed a brand new line of “acrylics” with a very long open time. It is called Golden Open. They’ll be shipping to stores on July 1. The painting above is one of my favorites done with these new paints. You can see my demonstration thread for this painting here.The underpainting was done with Golden Fluid Acrylics, and then the Open paints were used over that.

I’ve been testing these paints for Golden Acrylics since last August, and it’s been such a thrill for me to finally have an acrylic paint that does what I want it to do. The long open time enables me to paint like I would with oils, only better. It is really like a new medium in that it can do some of the things oils can do, some of the things acrylics can do, some of the things gouache can do, and some of the things watercolors can do. After nine months of using this paint, I feel like I’m still just scratching the surface in terms of its possibilities. Almost all of the acrylics that you’ve seen here on my blog since August were done with this paint.

This still life on clear-sealed linen is another one of my favorites done with this paint:
Flowers on Linen, 8×6″

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The paint tacks up as I work just enough to be able to do things that oils cannot. No more acrylic paint drying on your brushes either. When you finally get that mix of colors just right, the paint doesn’t dry out before you get a chance to use it. Edges can be blended and manipulated—no more razor-sharp acrylic edges in your paintngs unless you want them. Yet, it tacks up enough as I work to be able to scumble, glaze, and overpaint. Oils can’t do that! For plein air painting, they can’t be beat. Just a spray of water now and then keeps them totally workable. I can get paintings varnished and out to galleries in less than two weeks. I don’t have to put up with that nasty “sinking in” and flattening of values that oil paints do overnight without my permission! The color remains as beautiful and vibrant as when it was painted. These dry to a matte finish, so do not at all have that plastic look of many acrylics.

I’ve had good success with it in the figure painting studio too. This one from a few weeks ago is one of my favorite figure sketches with the new paint:
Amanda Resting, 8×10″ on Canson board

080413-amanda-resting-8×10-600.jpg

I hope any of you artists out there reading this will have the opportunity to try out this new product. It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. I’d be happy to answer any questions relating to the working properties of the paints; just enter them as comments on this post. I am so happy to be able to discuss them at last.

Backlit Kerri, on Linen

Posted by Jamie on April 18th, 2008

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8×6″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on linen, matted to 8×10″ or mounted on board (buyer’s choice)

I loved the way the backlighting rimmed the front of the figure in this pose.

Amanda Resting

Posted by Jamie on April 13th, 2008

080413-amanda-resting-8×10-600.jpg

8×10, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Canson board
$250.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This painting is from today’s open studio—a great pose from our model Amanda, with lots of foreshortening to make me work extra hard!

Sketch of Novelist Evelyn Waugh

Posted by Jamie on April 2nd, 2008

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9×6″, pencil in a Raffine sketchbook

I try to sketch portraits and figures whenever I can. This one was done from a photo reference while my husband was watching the news last night. It is the novelist Evelyn Waugh. This is just for my own drawing practice and is not for sale. I like this Raffine sketchbook for water media very much, but I feel the texture is a little rough for graphite work.

You Lead the Way—figures on the beach

Posted by Jamie on March 31st, 2008

080331-you-lead-the-way-5×7-2-500.jpg

5×7″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Canson board
$130.00 plus $12 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I went to Marshlands Conservancy in Rye yesterday. It was a gorgeous day and although I didn’t have time to stop and paint, I got loads of wonderful photo references. Now I have some compositional ideas for when I return there to paint later in the spring, as well as some things to work on during rainy days.

This mom was having a lot of fun following her little boy around the beach on Long Island Sound. He went exploring every nook along the shoreline. It was a chilly, spring afternoon, but the bright sunlight made everything light up.

080331-you-lead-the-way-5×7-palette-closeup-600.jpg

I used an expanded palette for this painting. I think I actually dipped into every single color here. It’s unusual for me to use so many.
Titanium White
Naples Yellow
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Red Light
Cerulean Blue Chromium hue
Ultramarine Blue
Oxide of Chromium
Transparent Red Oxide
Phthalo Blue

Kerri on Linen

Posted by Jamie on March 30th, 2008

080330-kerri-on-linen-1-8×6-600v.jpg

8×6″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on linen
$115.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This is from today’s open studio. This is the first time I’ve done a figure on this clear-sealed linen, and I just love the way the colors work with it and the texture.

I used the new, lightweight painting/pochade box that I made for this one. It’s working out great! Here it is in the life drawing studio all set up and ready to go….

figure-setup-600.jpg

Sketch of a Dancer (from life)

Posted by Jamie on March 20th, 2008

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Gouache on Strathmore 400 cold press watercolor paper
Cropped image size as shown above is 8×7″
Full page as shown below is about 9.5×7″

Full page:

080320-sketch-of-a-dancer-600-trim.jpg

We had a wonderful model in the life drawing studio who is a dancer. I saw this beautiful red dancing skirt and immediately thought—Degas! I hope she’ll be back soon to model for us again.

This is the first time I’ve used a scanned image of my artwork instead of a photograph. I think for small, completely dry work, and especially work on a white ground like this, it may be better to scan it. I can never get the white paper to show white when I photograph.

Life Drawing of Jean

Posted by Jamie on March 15th, 2008

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This sketch from life was done with an umber, water soluble Cretacolor stick on Arches hot press watercolor paper. It’s about 6×11″.

$100.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

Watercolor Sketch of Jean

Posted by Jamie on March 12th, 2008

080312-jean-2-11×7-watercolor-800.jpg

7.75×11″, watercolor on Arches 140 lb HP rag watercolor paper
$150.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

We had to leave our usual life drawing studio due to a solvent spill. I was painting in oils, but when we moved to the clay room, there wasn’t room for my oil painting gear. Fortunately, I had a little Winsor Newton Artist watercolor pan set in my purse and a nice umber Cretacolor stick, and some Arches paper in the car, so I pulled those out instead. You know what they say….When life throws you lemons, make lemonade! So, that’s what I did.

John—one-sitting figure sketch in oils

Posted by Jamie on February 14th, 2008

Click image to enlarge:

080214-john-oil-24×18-600.jpg

24×18″, oils on canvas
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in purchasing this painting

We had our wonderful model, John, for one more session. I pulled out a 24×18″ piece of canvas and did the painting in one fell swoop. It was about an hour and a half of painting time. I love painting this way—trying to catch the essence of a pose, and seeing how refined I can get it, in a single sitting. It makes me think of plein air painting, where the moving light sets the clock constantly ticking, and you need to be able to say what it is you want to say without fuss and deliberation.

Kerri, oil sketch from life

Posted by Jamie on February 11th, 2008

080211-kerri-18×12-oils-600.jpg

About 18×12″, oils on unstretched canvas
$395.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

Kerri was back modeling for us again today. I was going to do a bunch of quick oil sketches of her, but I really liked the way this was coming along, so I decided to stick with it for the full session.

Portrait of John in pastel

Posted by Jamie on February 7th, 2008

080207-john-12×9-done-600.jpg

12×9″, soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix
$325.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This was painted in two sittings from life. I may make some minor adjustments next week, but it is basically finished. I had a wonderful time playing with the warm and cool colors. There was a warm floodlight on, but also cool blue light from outside streaming in through the windows. The combination of light types made for some interesting challenges and color combinations.

Michelle life sketch 24×18″—50 minute pose

Posted by Jamie on February 6th, 2008

Click to enlarge:

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24×18″, Oils on unstretched canvas

This is a fairly large oil sketch on canvas, painted from life this morning. It can be shipped when dry, rolled in a mailing tube. Nudes are wonderful paintings for bedrooms and private sitting rooms, and convey a feeling of intimacy.

I really enjoyed working this size today in the life drawing studio. I cut a bunch of canvas pieces this size from a large roll I have, and I think I’ll stick with these larger ones for awhile. When I draw with charcoal in open studio, I usually go 24×36″, so although lately I’ve been painting figures a lot smaller, the 18×24″ size didn’t feel overwhelming.

The longest poses in these Wednesday sessions are 50 minutes, so the real challenge is to try to capture something special in that period of time. Everybody usually draws rather than paints because the time is so short. A couple of my oil sketches this morning bit the dust, so to speak, but I really like the way this one turned out. If I can come back from a session of short poses with just one thing I like, I consider it a success!

Speed Painting Figures in Oils

Posted by Jamie on February 4th, 2008

Yesterday, portrait artist extraordinaire Alan Reingold showed me how he teaches his Parsons students to speed paint figures in oils in 20 minutes from life. It was way fun! Each of these is a 20 minute pose, in order from the first of the afternoon to the last. I painted a couple and then moved my spot. The model kept the same pose.

The paintings are 12×16″ each, though I’ll be moving up to 16×20″ as soon as I cut some canvas! They are on unstretched canvas.

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Here’s a look at the palette I used when all was said and done. I premixed a few colors to start, and adjusted with the colors on my palette as needed.
Colors:
Naples Yellow
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Red
Oxide of Chromium
Ultramarine Blue
Burnt Sienna (Transparent Red Oxide)
Titanium White

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Hands on Red painted from life

Posted by Jamie on February 3rd, 2008

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12×16″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canvas
$440.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

Normally in life drawing and painting, artists avoid the hands. They are so complex, and difficult to render in a short time. I think everybody was glad that Jean took this pose with her hands behind her back! They were all on the other side of her. I finished my painting from the front last week, so this morning I went behind her to take on the enemy directly in my own, personal challenge. It was a three hour pose with breaks, and of course the hands changed a bit each time, making a tough subject even harder.

Evening in the Figure Studio

Posted by Jamie on January 31st, 2008

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24×18″, charcoal and pastel on brown craft paper
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

It seems I’m spending a lot of time in the figure studio this week…..

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24×18″, charcoal and pastel on brown craft paper

Morning in the Figure Studio

Posted by Jamie on January 30th, 2008

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18×24″
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

We had Marshall back in the life drawing studio this morning. He is such a great model, with wonderful expression, a vivacious personality, and knows how to hold a pose! These are both 19×25″ on Canson MiTientes paper, charcoal and pastel. You can click either image to enlarge it to 600 pixels. The pose below was a lot harder to draw than I thought it would be!

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18×24″

Amy, painted from life

Posted by Jamie on January 28th, 2008

Click image to enlarge:

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16×12″, oils on sealed, primed hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
This portrait of Amy was painted from life in about three and a half hours of posing time. I’ll do a few more tweaks, but the model time is up, so it’s pretty much done.

Jean—open studio life painting

Posted by Jamie on January 27th, 2008

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16×8″, oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$360.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This morning in open studio, I finished off this painting of Jean. I wanted to take it a bit further than this, but at 16×8″, the painting was just too small to work it more—at least until I get new glasses! The head is only about an inch and a half high or so, so you can imagine trying to paint facial details standing at an easel.

My palette for this painting consisted of:
Transparent Red Oxide
Cadmium Red
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Naples Yellow
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White

Once I was done with that, there was still an hour or so of studio time left, so I started a monochrome oil portrait of her, then wiped it off at the end of the session. Why’d I do that? I have no idea! I was actually pretty pleased with it, but after the first wipe with the cloth, it was too late to go back.

Jean will be back next week and I’ll paint her from a different angle.

Life Drawing of Michelle

Posted by Jamie on January 25th, 2008

Click to enlarge:

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About 12×10″, Wolff’s Carbon Pencil and wash on acid free, heavyweight paper
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

This was about a 1/2 hour sketch of Michelle. The poses aren’t that long, so I focused mostly on her face. I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of the way these carbon pencils react with water. There is definitely a learning curve with them. I like that they can get way darker than graphite, and thus extend the value range when working in monochrome.

My apologies to those who tried to get to my site today and were unable to get the front page to load. The problem seemed to be caused by Mapstats. I took it off my site and now it’s loading like lightning.

Portrait of Jean (from life)

Posted by Jamie on January 24th, 2008

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12×9″, pastel on Wallis sanded paper
$325.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This pastel of Jean was done start to finish in a three hour pose, minus breaks. I really loved the way the light hit her face from this nearly backlit position, and the influence of the burgundy velvet on her skin, combined with the warm light.

David in Pastel

Posted by Jamie on January 17th, 2008

Click to enlarge:

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12×9″, Pastel on Art Spectrum Colourfix
$325.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This painting was done from a live model over the past two weeks.

Marshall—Life drawings in charcoal and pastel

Posted by Jamie on January 9th, 2008

Click image to enlarge:

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18×24″, on brown craft paper

Marshall is a fabulous model with oodles of personal charm and charisma, and interesting features to draw. Here are some of my sketches from today’s life drawing poses.

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Above: 36×24″

Below: 18×24″ (click to enlarge image)

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Julia—sketch in oils

Posted by Jamie on January 8th, 2008

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16×12″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard

This oil sketch took about 2.5 hours, minus model breaks. Many thanks to Julia for being such a great model, and to Alan Reingold for a wonderful portrait class.

I’ve decided to dive back into some classes during the cold winter months, and take the opportunity to use my indoor, non-plein air time for artistic growth. Taking this time to work and receive critiques from artists I so admire is an opportunity I can’t pass up. Portraits and figures are great practice for any subject and style of painting, and I only have time to do a lot of that in the winter. More to come in the weeks ahead!

For my landscape afficionados, not to worry! You’ll be seeing some landscapes emerging over the next several weeks as well!

Paula Painting en plein air

Posted by Jamie on May 5th, 2007

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7×5″, oil painting
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

This is a little oil sketch of my friend Paula, painted while she was painting at Teatown Lake.

Sleepy Sunday and Open Studio Life Drawing

Posted by Jamie on March 18th, 2007

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12×16″, pastels on Daler Rowney paper, unframed

I spend my Sunday mornings with a group of artists in a figure drawing studio, where we have a different model every week. We practice drawing from poses ranging from one minute to 25 minutes, in whatever medium we choose. It’s no wonder the great masters always worked on drawing figures from life. There is no better practice for the hand and eye, and it is a skill that carries over to all subjects.

The drawing above is in pastel on Daler Rowney pastel paper. I love the different colors it comes in and the woven texture. This was a 20 minute pose—the last pose of the session. We were all a little sleepy by then, even the model!

Below are some additional sketches from the session.
About 12 minutes (the cellphone interrupteth!), 12×16″ on MiTientes paper:

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Below are two more 20 minute poses, also 12×16 on MiTientes:

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At the beginning of each session, we do several quick “warmups”, which are poses that vary from one to 5 minutes. I thought it would be nice for you to see what the very short poses are like. Although it took longer to take the photos and upload them than it did to do the actual sketches, it’s nice to show them on occasion. They are just quick, gestural sketches. Here are a few from today:

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I hope you enjoyed this trip to open studio life drawing with me!