Mudheads

Recently I stumbled across a portrait technique that was new to me:  mudheads.  The technique began with the painter, Charles Hawthorne, in the early 1900's.  He instructed his students to paint the shapes and colors of models posed in direct sunlight, often wearing large hats, rather than focusing on details.  The resulting paintings became known as mudheads because of the lack of features in the face of the models.  Since I've always struggled with portraiture, I thought it would be a good place to start--focusing on shape, value, and ignoring detail.  It was a fun approach and resulted in the following portraits:

Although the features are obscured, my husband immediately recognized these two figures.  Those who know my family personally may  recognize them as well. It was exciting to capture their character even though the portraits lacked detail.  I'll keep practicing this technique and see if I can figure out what the next step was in Hawthorne's process.  Maybe one of these days I'll get to fully recognizable portraits.

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4x6, Abstract Portrait, Canvas, Charles Hawthorne, Figurative Painting, Muddheads

Self Portrait

Here's my first self-portrait. It is 4x6 inches, not quite life size. I can't resist painting these little nose portraits. I may have to put a few of in the Quick Studies section in my Etsy Gallery, Small Impressions Paintings. Until then, I'm just having a lot of fun improving my skill and creating little abstract portraits.

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Abstract Portrait, Contemporary Painting, Oil Painting, Original Oil Painting, Original Painting, Pacific Northwest Artist, Painting a nose, Painting a Series, Painting Facial Features, Painting on Canvas, Small Art, Small Painting

Nose Practice

Portrait painting has never been a skill that about which I feel very confident, so today I spent some time practicing the painting of noses. It was fun. I didn't worry about getting all the features correct, but simply concentrated on noses. This one is my favorite. It is 4x6 inches on a canvas panel. With any painting, one gets better with practice. Now I need to try some mouths and eyes. Eventually I might be able to put them all together.

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American Painting, Canvas Panel Painting, Nose Painting, Oil Painting, oil sketch, Painting a nose, Painting Exercise, Painting Facial Features