Step-by-Step Self Portrait Finished

At some point you just have to say it's done. I'm at that point with this.
It was a good exercise with a limited palette. (note the eyes are yellow!)

Step-by-Step Self-Portrait cont.

That feels better! Just a little more tweaking.

Step-by step self-portrait continues...

There is still something missing...

Step-by step self-portrait

It still has a long way to go, but is starting to look like something.

It has been a long dry spell. In order to get painting again, I thought I would do yet another self-portrait and share pictures as it progresses. The point of this project is not so much to create a likeness, as a feeling. It is best to experiment with your own image rather than someone who may never speak to you again. So...here goes.

Still Life with Blue Bottle

More Sketch Book Images

Expressionistic Tree

Although this seems like a complete change of direction in style, this is actually a return to 'reverse painting' technique featured in a post from last year. It was an exercise to try and loosen up my painting style which tends to be very tight and controlled. (See post below)

Two Styles - One Painting

This painting is a combination of styles. I used the textured landscape technique on the earlier decorative tree design. (see earlier posts)

Fun with Art and Computers

This is the picture that Conor originally sent to me.

This is the painting I did from the picture.

This is the unscrambled picture that I had never seen.

This is the "translation" after the painting was unscrambled!

Have you ever played the "translation game" where using an on-line translator, you put in an expression in English and translate that to Greek and then to Korean and finally back to English? Something that began as "cash cow" might now be "bovine that gives golden milk". Well, that is sort of what my son, Conor and I have done here. Conor took a picture of himself with a goofy face and twisted it using a gizmo on Photobucket. He e-mailed me the twisted image and said he thought it would make a cool painting. I painted it and sent it to him as a gift for his 17th birhday. He then took a picture of the painting and put it back in the gizmo on Photobucket and reversed the effect. Here is that story in pictures.

The Entry That Didn't Get In SCOPE

This is the other Textured Landscape that wasn't chosen to be in the SCOPE show down at the VAE. I thought I should post that as well. It shows a storm coming in over a Salt Marsh. It bears a striking resemblance to the show winner, (I think) There is still time to go down to the City Market and see the exhibition. It runs until June 25th.

Entry accepted into SCOPE exhibit at the VAE

SOLD

I entered this painting into the SCOPE: North Carolina Landscape exhibition at the VAE (Visual Art Exchange) and was accepted! The juror was David Steel, the Curator of the European Collection at the NC Museum of Art. The show runs from June 5 through June 25th, so if you get a chance stop in and see it.

Plasma Sellers # 2 & #3

Another in the Plasma Seller Series

This is Plasma Seller # 1, which is part of a series of portraits of real people taken from photos I took while working in various plasmaphoresis centers around the southern U.S. The identity of the individuals is protected either by abstracting the portrait, or, as in this example, pixilating the features of the portrait.

Plasma Seller #4

This is number four in an ongoing series of portraits of people who sell their blood plasma for a pittance. The industry booms during tough economic times.

Adrienne

I did this painting back in 2005, from an image I saw by a South American artist named Gomez. I named her after my son's first girlfriend. It is 30" x 40" and hangs above my dining room table. It also appears in my self-portrait 2009.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Piper

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I would post a painting I did back in 2005 of my brother playing the bagpipes. It is often said that a true gentleman is one who knows how to play the bagpipes... and doesn't.

Portraits in Oil

Woman with Mandolin

Conor C. Parnell

Dean M. Parnell

Self-Portrait 2006

"A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant." (Wikipedia) I'm posting four portraits that were done sometime over the last four years. Painting a portrait can be difficult on a number of levels. Can you achieve a likeness? Is the goal a formal portrait or something more expressive of the inner being? John Singer Sargent once said: "Everytime I paint a portrait, I lose a friend." Loyal British subjects were quite prepared to send Lucian Freud to the Tower of London for beheading when they saw his portrait of the Queen. I can see why many artists do so many self-portraits.

White and Black

(sold)

This is my latest in the black and white series. This one is actually a reverse of the rest. It's black paint on a white painted canvas.

Black and White Portraits

Renee

Brandy

Here are two more black and white portraits. It is a very dramatic effect. The painting time is quick but the set up is arduous. The difficult part is retaining the recognition factor of the individual with very few features.

New Self-Portrait

This is last nights' effort. I was recently turned on to Picasa 3 and I have been having a blast playing with it. This painting resulted from manipulating a photo that I used in a self-portrait back in 2006. It inspired a black/white positive/negative self-portrait. I really like it.

Guitar Portraits

If you can't afford to buy one, then paint one!

Here's an idea that didn't catch fire. I saw how many artists were doing pet portraits and thought I could do guitar portraits. I still think it is a good idea, being a guitar player. Marketing has always been one of my many weak points. Anyway, I started with some of the more popular models.

From Photograph to Painting

It was just a silly picture of me in a silly outfit

After cropping and simplifying...

I couldn't resist changing the gaze of "Adrienne" to look at ME!

This is the finished (almost) "Self-Portrait 2009" 24" x 36" oil on canvas

More Textured Landscapes

(sold)

(sold)

(sold)

Textured Landscapes

(sold)

(sold)

The textured landscapes are a combination of techniques and media. The paintings are comprised of abstract textures and materials combined in an arrangement that becomes a realistic landscape when viewed from a distance. Close up, it is a seemingly random series of paint, media, and patterns. This is not simply thick paint.

The media contains specific aggregates to achieve unique textural, dimensional, and reflective effects. The materials used include marble dust, volcanic aggregates, polymer emulsions and acrylic paint combined to achieve special effects. My background in chemistry and science inspires my experimental approach to art.