Soft and hard edges

The human eye is naturally attracted to sharp angles and strong contrasts, such as light color next to really dark color. In paintings, these are called hard edges. Artists create hard edges to attract the viewer's attention to a certain section, usually the point of interest. In this portrait of my friend Miguel, the hard edges can be found on the outlines of his torso.

Then there are also the soft edges (or disappearing edges) that connects the main object to its background. (Hard edges all around will make the object look like a cutout.) Soft edges can be found on the right side of Miguel's hair, face and elbow. The right side of him has a cast shadow and seem to disappear into the dark hedge behind him.

Miguel

16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas board

Art Design 101

I came across this picture of two men in a wrestling pose, and I just had to paint it! It has the basic elements that they teach in any art design classes. Certain parts can be underlined by blue horizontal and vertical lines, which convey solidity and stability. The red diagonal lines convey movement and excitement. Too many horizontal or vertical elements can make your paintings static, while too many diagonals can make it chaotic. In addition, the outline of the two wrestlers create an upright triangle, as illustrated by the yellow outline. Composition utilizing geometric shapes were commonly used by Renaissance artists.

The wrestlers
16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas board

Masonite hardboard

Masonite hardboards have smooth surfaces, compared to canvas boards which are textured. I find it easier to use hardboards when I want to apply thick paint so that the brushstrokes are visible. This technique is called impasto and was made popular by the Impressionists. I use Masonite hardboards for my 8"x10" paintings.

Shy
8x10 inches, oil on Masonite hardboard

My niece

My niece Isabella (or Isla as her parents call her) is such a beautiful baby and already exudes a unique personality. I told my sister that Isla should be a baby model! They live in England. This painting is based on a picture of her when she was three months old. She is about six months old now.

Isla

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas board

Reflections

Painting a person and his/her mirror reflection is always a challenge. You want to make the reflection resemble the subject, without them being too identical that you end up with a painting of a pair of Siamese twins.

The common approach is to make the reflection darker, cooler or less defined than the main subject. If you were to take a picture of a person with his/her reflection, you can observe that these attributes do exist, albeit very subtly.

The mirror

16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas board

A brief lesson in oil painting

Here's my painting method, in a nutshell:

1. Draw the outline of the subject with pencil.
2. Paint the darkest areas of the image first. For example: the cast shadows*, hair and eyebrows.
3. Paint the mid-tones and fully cover the canvas. I try to apply the right colors and temperatures based on my observation. Generally, the human skin would be warm (lots of red and yellow), the cast shadows would be cool (usually dark green), form shadows* would be a darker hue of the warm skin, stubbles on the chin and sideburns on males would be cool too (bluish or greenish grey). A tiny area right before the skin disappears in the form shadows would be a brilliant hue of red/yellow.
4. I would wait a few days to let the paint dry. Then, I would make corrections as needed and finally apply the highlights (white mixed with a little yellow/red).

If I've been conscientious throughout the whole process, it would take me about four working days to complete a 16x20 painting!

*Cast shadow is caused by something blocking the light source. A form shadow is the side of an object that faces away from the light source.

Contemplating
16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas board

Can you hear me now?

Talking on the cellphone is such a commonplace (and some might say annoying) act that one would think that it would be the last subject for a painting. But in real life it somehow allows the bystander to discreetly observe the person, maybe even eavesdrop on the conversation, and capture an intimate smile or laughter which he or she didn't mean to share with the rest of the world.


On the phone
8 x10 inches, oil on Masonite