Jennifer At Profile

This is a study in oil completed in a single sitting from a figure drawing night at UALR.  I liked it where it stopped.

New Video: Time Lapse Portrait of Krista, video

Here is a new time lapse portrait of my friend Krista. With Broccoli.  The painting is still in progress.  Watch more videos on my youtube channel.

Palindrome Reclined

I spend a lot of time noticing how form repeats itself in nature.  When I look at the human back I often notice that the overlapping muscles of the lower and upper back are nearly a mirror image.  I wondered if I could fool the viewer at first glance that this was a normal reclined figure, the pelvis on the left functioning as the upper torso and shoulders.

On the Easel: No Title Yet.

I'm using my imagination a lot more in my process recently in my interpretation of form.  How can I take  my impression of the movements of the figure and push them to where I make you see what I see?  

 Much imagination is also employed here in the placement of shadows too.  

This is a composition I'm working out currently for a painting.  I'm doing a lot more of this lately, which to my surprise I've found extremely gratifying.  It's one of those things you know would help but it sounds boring.  Actually I'm flying through loads of paper just throwing my ideas down and pushing things around.  It's so much fun I've hardly thought of painting in the last week.

Two of my favorite stories as a child were Rip Van Winkle, which I took as literal history (as well as Greek Mythology.) and "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak.  Both are definitely in there.

From "Where the Wild Things Are", Illustration by Maurice Sendak

A little help with shadow arrangements using some of my kids' toys.

New Crank Easel

 Someone I don't know literally gave me the easel of my dreams for free.  A friend of my in-laws had it sitting and doesn't seem to have been used.  It was waiting there in Chicago for me where I happened to be going for the weekend.  It was like the movies in which the kid who stares at the guitar in the store window finally gets it.

 It's a Cappelletto Renaissance beechwood crank easel, and came with a special linseed oil for oiling the fancy wood.  It has a palette and paintbox that box that both clip onto the front.  Thank you God, I'll try to do something decent on it.

Laurel Magnolia

"Laurel Magnoilia" began as a response to the painting "Laura" also known as "Portrait of a Young Bride" by Giorgione. I found this portrait strange and captivating. The laurel branches seems to sprout out of her back. At one glance there is strength in her eyes and at another she looks entranced. Researching the painting a bit I learned that the laurel was a reference to Daphne and a symbol of chastity, the exposed breast a sign of her potential for motherhood. On trying to reinterpret the theme, however, the results felt stiff and weak. It just didn't work emotionally for me as a portrait of my own wife. As I reclined her in her feather coat and she struggled to clutch the lapels together she began to look more like Rubens than Giorgione.

"Laurel Magnolia", Oil on linen, 30"x24"

"Laura" by Giorgione, 1505

I have always been a huge fan of the portraits Rubens painted of his wives. He is clearly enraptured by his subject, and the emotion would be unbridled if not for the self-consciousness in the hands. In the Giorgione the gesture of the hand opening the coat is countered by the the disinterested stare away from the painter. Rubens' ladies gaze fully into the painter's eyes while the arms deny full access to the viewer. To me this was a more exciting solution.

"Isabella Brant" by Peter Paul Rubens.  Isabella was Rubens' first wife

"Isabella Brant" by Peter Paul Rubens

While keeping the symbolism of the laurel branches, laurels are native to the mediterranean. It does happen, however, that a "laurel magnolia" tree grows in my front yard in Arkansas, named for its similarity in appearance to the laurel. The magnolia's tough, waxy leaves stay unchanged during the cold months, making it also a symbol of strength and endurance.

"Venus (Helene Fourment) in a Fur Coat" by Peter Paul Rubens.  The second wife of Rubens.

"Portrait of Suzanne Forment" by Peter Paul Rubens.  This is a portrait of Helene's sister, but bears many of the same qualities of his wives' portraits.

A 1940's Portrait of my Grandfather, Artist Unknown

This is a painting of my dad's father, Carmine Cefalo, known to me as "Grandpop".  It hung on the wall at my grandparents' house from the 40's until very recently, and my uncle now owns it.  I was fascinated by the portrait growing up, and it was an inspiration to me as a young kid who dreamed of becoming an artist.  I always wondered if I could some day paint something like it.  

All anyone knows about it is that it was painted in Italy during World War II, and that my he payed for it with a carton of cigarettes.  Nobody can make much sense of the signature past the first few letters.  It's pretty well painted anyway, and it's great to have a small treasure like this as part of our family history.

The orange light and aloof gaze away from the viewer are interesting to me.  It's fun for me to imagine my grandfather as a young wisecracking tough guy in the Navy.  The eyebrows are great too.