Film Noir: A Painting Demo

Man it’s been a busy arty year so far! I just got back from Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2 in Kansas City . It was an inspiring trip that reaffirmed my desire to get more painterly with my work. I spoke with some of the most inspiring mentors at SFAL, George Pratt as well as Mark Schultz and they both lit my fuse by showing me great paintings that accomplish an effortless spirited application. I am sure I shrieked “GAHHHH the paint!” more than once. What an awesome event it was. I may blog about that whole experience and the great artists I met while at my table in another post later, but for now, lets talk about my most recent attempt at the paint!

Starting with my bank of reference on my tablet (photographs I’ve taken of models and moods) I started with this photo I took of Ra’idah Dance from a Dr. Sketchy’s Film Noir sketch event in Asbury Park N.J. Ra’idah is one of the most amazing performance artists I have seen and had the pleasure of painting and sketching. She is gorgeous and has a beautiful energy I love to try and capture. (another of my favorite ladies to paint is Cassandra Lonono who you’ve seen in another post here). On my desk you’ll also see a Sorolla art book I brought home from Spain and Liepke, two masters of the strokes, I adore.

Lets Get started with my usual red tonal wash of Quinacridone Burnt Orange. I love this color.

Then I block in the mid-tone masses with Burnt Umber and throw a little Sap Green on to give a different tone to the shadow on the lighted side of the face.

It’s a good idea to think about the background at this stage. You can avoid that “cut and pasted” after thought look, by flipping in some color blocks and connecting them to your subject in deliberate places as I’ve started to do here.

Yes, I use aluminum foil as a pallet. It makes sense, think on it.

Once some mid and dark tones are set it’s time to block in my lights…

Around this point it’s just best to close your eyes, cuz it’s getting really ugly. This is where your faith must be strong and you WILL pull through by glazing in local color.

See? Getting better…

I just keep doing that till I am satisfied or I give up.

But this little twist I wanted to try was throwing in spits of an odd color or two to punch things up a bit. That’s what I did with Cerulean Blue and some Phthalo Green in the finished work below.

It’s kind of electric and I dig it. Done! Moving on and getting faster. Maybe I’ll do a little more of this with watercolors and some techniques I learned from Felipe Echevarria. Now that I showed you my bag of tricks, what are you thinking of trying?