Painting portraits from life

Why do we paint portraits, knowing there is a zero chance to sell it ? The answer is simple - just exactly why we paint anything from life in ala prima ..It's the best creative practice and  a great exercise to train your eye, wrist, understanding of anatomy, structure,  values and colors ..If you are serious  about your art making, if this is your carrier or just a passion - you need to paint from life!

Also ...a very great way to have more ideas, a way to experiment and  have fun creating !

I've been doing it for decades , in fact I was portrait painting from life since I was 7/8 years old - I painted portraits of my family, friends and even my neighbors :) In those time I painted in watercolors and gouache. I still have some pieces, and frankly it was quite good :)

When a quantity became a quality , simple practice of portrait painting can (will) transform into magic. Suddenly just someone face became an ikon , an image of untenable, intangible emotion..We all should thrive to reach this level ..Here is my few last portraits, painted from life...

"Heidi " oil on canvas , 20x16

Shannon - oil on linen, 20x16

                                                       "White Mink" oil on linen

"Carmen" oil on linen , 20x16

Shifting my style to polychromes

 Those 31 day of painting gave me so many ideas and inspiration to change my style - tell you the truth, I was still dissatisfied with my artistic voice ( after 50 years of painting) lol,  and the painting challenge, and painting from life daily revealed that I got board with painting of what I see ..I needed some stimulation…and I finally got it …I decided to push all the colors I see to more extreme level …and voila- I have completely recharged my color taste …and discovered my lost thrills!  Here it is a few paintings from this series…and you can buy any from my www.artlanegallery.com Www.artlanegallery.com

   

                                                  “Dessert For Two”  oil on museum board , 6x6 

                                                   “ Tea and Cherry “ oil on aluminum, 10x10

“Glass half Full” oil on linen , 8x8

“ French Press” oil on museum board 12x16

I just finished 30 day Strada Easel Challenge !

 Alriiiight , I did it! I finished 30 days painting from life and posting daily Strada Easel Challenge! And I was among 1000 artists doing that :) Majority of them I know well , some know personally. And I can tell you there is an ocean of talents out there ! Is that was difficult? Not really - just because I painted every day anyway , the bigger challenge it's to create a nice, comprehensive set up  to paint from life every day ..

But I CANNOT to stress it more enough - Painting every day from life , is what will IMPROVE your art skills tremendously - You will train your eye and your hand - the dexterity of your wrist  will be magically change ! So here is my 30 daily painting ...Here is just a few of my paintings