On the easel...

I have been doing more painting this week than anything else. There are several exhibits I hope to enter coming up. I am working on this portrait, which will be called "The Youngest Groomsman." A friend and I were in a gallery where a wedding was taking place late last summer, and this young man latched on to us, as he waited for wedding preparations to proceed. So I asked him if he would pose for me. He was delighted to do so, especially when I told him I am an artist and thought I'd like to paint him. He asked excitedly, "You mean I might hang on the wall in an art gallery some day?" I told him I hoped that would be the case, if it turns out well. So I hope it turns out good enough to enter.

Painting this is a challenge, as it looks like mostly browns and blacks, but it is not really. It really has a lot of greens and yellows, as well, that all must read as browns and blacks. I love the lighting! He wanted to stand under an archway which was too brightly lit, but readily stood where I asked him to when he posed.

I feel like I am catching some of his personality; his pride in his role for the day, his young man's cockiness. He was quite young, and the other groomsmen were all adults, off being busy getting things ready for the ceremony.

The painting reminds me quite a bit of a Hal Painter tapestry I saw years ago that was of a young man looking through a doorway, and it was all in browns and blacks. It was my favorite Painter tapestry. I think it was somewhere in my mind when I saw this young man dressed up in his tux and asked him to pose.

I still have trouble taking decent digital photos of wet oil paintings. There is a glare I can't get rid of, and the contrast doesn't show well. But I thought I'd post what I'm up to anyway.