Monday, January 30, 2012

Grey's great

 
 What a smile
Black marker and watercolour
on Arches watercolour paper
3 x 5 inches
Barbara Muir © 2012
David Lobenberg is an artist whose work inspires
me again and again.  He's great with acrylic, fantastic
with watercolour, and can paint anything -- but is
especially captivating with portraits.  Lately he's
been doing spectacular work in watercolour -- dazzling
portraits.

David is a big believer in grey scale.  Working on value.
I have spent most of my life in value aversion therapy,
and find I do love thinking about value when it's attached
to a colour, but I want to free myself from all hold backs,
so why not plunge in I thought.

On the weekend I bought a tube of Payne's Grey, and
the other night did this small portrait of a friend, using
that colour exclusively (as David recommends) with
a black marker drawing underneath.  There will be more
of that.

In the late afternoon today we had real winter, and I drove
home from my long day at school clutching the steering
wheel.  We've been beyond lucky this winter -- I think
this is the first real snowfall yet, and only the second
day of freaky driving.  That's probably a bad sign for the
planet, but it has been a treat.


Have a working-on-your-values day.

2 comments:

David Lobenberg said...

Bella, bella!

Barbara Muir said...

Now that made me happy. Thanks David. Like the Martini glasses too. You must be such a great teacher. Look how far your influence is spreading.

Ciao,

Barbara

Portrait Artist

My photo
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I paint and draw on commission and for shows. To commission a portrait, or purchase one of my paintings please contact me at: barbara.muir@sympatico.ca
A major highlight in my career? Drawing Oprah Winfrey live via Skype for her show "Where in the Skype are you? Galleries: Studio Vogue Gallery, Toronto, Canada. The Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York City. Gallery at the Porch Door, Kingston, Canada. Your positive comments on this blog mean the world to me. I'd love to hear from you!