Crucifixion Of Jesus

This is an album cover I painted for a friend of mine Jeff Motley. He recently recorded his first demo which you can listen to on his myspace page. For this painting I found references of some statues and combined them with a sky background. I flipped the original orientation of the sky to make it look like the heavens opening up to welcome Jesus home.
SOLD!
9inx12in oils on canvas.

Portrait Part 3

Well this was my last class. I've learned so much and I think my painting techniques are improving. I now know a lot more about the painting process. There is more to a painting then just the photo you are painting from. You have to decide on what will be your focal point, making value studies and then putting it all on canvas. I feel that I can now look at my subject and see past the details and focus on the masses first and details last. This was always a problem for me at first but, now I am evolving into a better painter. Here is the portrait I've been working on it still isn't finished I only put color on the face. The eyes, hair and the background still needs finished. I'll of course keep you posted on the progress of this painting.

Portrait Painting In Progress Part 2

I finished the value tone layer. I had some trouble with the nose and it still doesn't look right. Everytime I tried adjusting it it got worse so I had to stop messing with it. Maybe I'll have more luck with it tomorrow when I add color to it.

Portrait Painting In Progress

I am learning how to paint portraits in class this week. I used the grid system to transfer the picture to the canvas. Of course I still need to finish massing in the darks and lights then next week I will be adding color. The photo I'm using for this painting I found on www.sxc.hu. I like the overall look of this photo and the lighting was nice. I brought this photo in to Adobe Photoshop and blurred it so I didn't focus to much on the details and it helps me to see the shadows and the lights easier. I use Photoshop a lot for adjusting photos to the way I want to help me out. I am trying to not rely on the computer so much and I have started drawing value studies. I drew several value studies for the painting below making the log the focal point. But the painting didn't turn out as I intended it. The log and the rock are now competing with each other and I'll have to go back to this painting and tone down the rock so that it isn't such a dark value. I'll lighten the log so it then becomes the focal point again. I have learned so much from this instructor and I am glad that I was able to take the class. This will help me improve with my painting. Next week is my last class.