100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS -Inga, 31/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 31

Here's the other sister, Inga. At first I painted her yellow. I found out nobody looks good painted yellow, so I put a pink glaze (Liquin and paint - quinacridone voilet in this case) over the finished painting, and Inga suddenly looked so much healthier. She now looks like she's bathed in the glow of a setting sun, or maybe just returned from vacationing in the Caribbean! There is a diabolical reflection in her glasses that was a challenge, but I think I got it.
For purchase information, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.


DON'T FORGET TO MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT! THIS BLOG IS A DEMOCRACY AND THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE RULES! VOTING ENDS SUNDAY NIGHT AT 10PM MST.

VOTE!!

Please select your favorite from portraits 21-30. Voting ends Sunday night! Email me your choice at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net. THANKS!!!

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Milvi, 30/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 30

Today's portrait is one of a pair of sisters, Milvi and Inga, who said they spent an afternoon having a photo shoot to get photos to send to me. They said even if I don't choose to paint them, they had a lot of fun doing their photo session.
They did a great job of setting up the lighting for their photo shoot. Notice the strong single light source on one side. When I first painted Milvi, I had her all in blue and purple. She looked like an extra out of Avatar. I decided to tone down the blue to a somewhat more believable color, but you can still see some blue here and there.
I had fun with her glasses too. They're kind of there and not there. For purchase information, please see my website or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net

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TIME TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE IN THE THIRD GROUP OF TEN!!!!!!!!!!!
Please review Portraits 21 (Regula) through 30 (Milvi) and email me with your favorite.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Donna, 29/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 29

Another far away viewer of my blog, this is Donna from Australia. Perhaps I should have put a kangaroo in the background, or, better yet, Hugh Jackman. Happy (belated) Australia Day, Donna!
I was watching the Australian Open, which is going on right now in Melbourne, and they actually stopped play for the annual fire works extravaganza. Last year, at this time, my daughter and her husband lived Down Under, and they said the fireworks on Australia Day, which they observed from a boat in Sydney harbor, was the most spectacular fireworks they had ever seen. They know how to party in Oz.
For purchase information, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Abdullah, 28/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 28

This is Abdullah Jones, a full time artist who is based in Maylasia. The fact that Abdullah even knew about this portrait project is a testament to the power of the internet. His was the first photo I've received in profile. This probably would have been a better fit in a 5x7 or 8x10 format, but since I'm doing them all on 6x6 inch panels, I had to crop it to fit.
For purchase information, please see my website, or email carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net

Only 2 more portraits remain to be posted in this group of 10, so start thinking about which one is your favorite.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Merideth, 27/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 27

I like the golden tones in this portrait - the sunglasses were fun to do - I think it's one of my better nose renditions. That about sums up this portrait of this lovely young lady. She is the daughter of one of my fellow Daily Painters members, Debbie Lincoln.
For purchase information, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Megan, 26/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 26

I loved painting this little girl. She has such sparkle in those dark eyes. On this portrait, I started with a pink background and you can see bits of pink showing here and there like along the side of her face and around the braid. I also liked using the blue on the side of her face. Of course, some purple got in there too - almost everyone gets some purple here or there.
For purchase information, please see my website, or email me carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who make comments on my blog. I know a lot of you have Feedblitz which does not allow easy blog replies. I read every comment and I am amazed at your spot-on observations. Sometimes you see things that I don't. Thanks for all your encouraging words.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Jeff, 25/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 25

I can't believe I an one quarter of the way through my portrait project. It seems I learn something from each portrait I complete. Jeff had the dreaded reflection in his glasses - remember the trouble I had with Edward, 9/100? This time I just painted it - didn't try to over think it and it turned out great.
For purchase information, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

I have to admit, the demands of this project are beginning to show around the house. I hardly ever cook dinner any more. My Christmas lights are still up outside. The dogs all need haircuts. My gallery in Golden, CO, wants a change out. Plants need watering. My laundry is piling up. Mail piling up.

It's the computer that really takes so much time. Lots of email to manage and keep track of. Ran out of black and some colors of ink and photo paper for my printer. Thank God for my cleaning lady. My husband is amazingly tolerant, and will help out if I make a list for him.

I'm not complaining. Just indulging myself with a tiny amount of whining. OK, feel better now.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Tori, 24/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 24

This is the daughter of another artist, Julia Kulish. Julia said this pose reminded her of The Girl With The Pearl Earring. It DOES! Julia is a painter known for her large florals, but she tried painting this photo of her daughter last month (see the blog by clicking on her name).

I laughed, Julia, when you said you painted her mouth seven times. I remember a quote from some artist whose name escapes me: A portrait is a painting of a person where there's always something wrong with the mouth. I agree. I think I got her mouth a little more upturned than the photo and the lower lip is a little more pouty. Yup - there's always something wrong with the mouth. LOL

For purchase information, please see my website.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Sue, 23/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 23

Doesn't Sue look like a fun person? She indicated she wanted the full Fauvist treatment in her portrait and even went so far as to imagine what colors she thought I'd use. Did you imagine orange, turquoise and purple, Sue?? LOL I had a lot of fun painting this one. For purchase information, please see my website.

My new computer with Windows 7 is not giving me too many problems. It comes with a photo software that I like. I tried using my old Picture It software and it was just cranky - did not work as smoothly as it did no Windows XP - so I had to start using the new software out of necessity.

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AND THE WINNER IS: (drum roll) JONATHAN, 19/100 Thanks to all that sent in a vote. Jonathan was a resounding choice with 4 times the number of votes of the others. I'm convinced it was the mirrored glasses that captured everyone's attention. When I first saw the photo, I worried about how I was going to portray those glasses. I just painted what I saw. Someone commented that because of the ocean in the reflection, you get a portrait and a seascape in one.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS -Fotina, 22/100

Day 22

This lady is from Greece. It looks like a flash photo, but I thought it would be a good one to show a step by step evolution of the painting. For purchase information on this portrait, please see my website.
I'm showing several stages of this painting, so you can see my painting process. I've already covered support and photo preparation in an earlier post. After I have a 4x4 print made, I use an inexpensive projector to locate key features of the face on the panel. I COULD spend several minutes drawing the face by hand, but the projector is a huge time saver. At the rate I'm painting these portraits, time is of the essence. The projected image is usually pretty blurry, but is does show where everything is. The bottom picture shows the sketch of the image.
The next step is fill in details with a small brush loaded with red oxide (in this example). This step also identifies the lights and darks of the painting. It is critical at this point to make sure important aspects of the face are in the right location - eyes, nostrils, edges of the mouth, ears, etc. On a 6x6 painting, an eighth of an inch mistake is huge.
At this point, I have to decide what colors I'm going to use - will it be fairly traditional coloring like this one, or something wilder? I usually start with the highlighted area and the eyes. Then I just keep refining the image until I'm satisfied with it.
Each portrait takes about three hours. Stepping away from the finished portrait for a little bit is very important. I go read some email or eat lunch. When I come back and see the painting with fresh eyes, I always see some minor (or occasionally major) adjustments that need to be made.
Last step is to photograph the painting, catalog it on my computer, and post it on my blog.
I won't say I could do these in my sleep, but I think I AM getting better at it. : - )

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Regula, 21/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 21

I hope the lovely Regula always wondered what she would look like with blue hair because now she knows! She's from Switzerland and maybe she'll start a new fad. This is another painting starting on a black background, so the black areas, like along the right side of her face, are the actual underpainting.
For purchase information, please see my website.

Tomorrow's post will have several photos showing my photo transfer method and a painting in progress.

IT'S TIME TO VOTE AGAIN. Please review portraits 11 - 21 on my blog and shoot me an email for your favorite from that group. carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Emmett, 20/100

Day 20

I'm sorry I didn't get this posted at midnight. I had some issues with my new computer. I think the problems are resolved, but I haven't had time to really delve into the nuts and bolts of this new operating system.

Emmett is the husband of Jennie (11/20) and I think they are such a handsome, vibrant couple.
This is one of the first paintings I did on a black background. Your approach to a painting on a black background is a little different. I start out putting in the lightest lights, and then work my way to darker colors. Some areas that would be a black line, like the bottom of his glasses are just left for the background to show.

Emmett is the last of the next group of ten. Be sure to review portraits 11 - 20, pick your favorite, and send me your vote at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

Thank you for ALL the birthday wishes. On Sunday, my daughters took me out for lunch and to see GIRLS ONLY, where we had a thousand laughs. What a cute show that is! Last night my husband came home with flowers and took me out for sushi dinner. I'm feeling pretty special, which is what birthdays are supposed to be.

I noticed two robins on my dog walk this morning. We don't usually get robins back until Feb, so they are unusually early this year. Could spring be coming early?

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Jonathan, 19/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 19

Today is my birthday, and what better way to spend it than with a paint brush in my hand? This cool looking dude is Jonathan, the son of my friend and fellow artist, Saundra Lane Galloway (http://saundralanegalloway.com). Saundra was over at my house when I was working on this portrait and we had a blast painting together.

There are several things I liked about this photo Saundra gave me. First, it is SO natural - not posed at all. He was cruisin' on his skateboard (he's a pro skateboarder) and listening to his ipod.
He lives in San Diego and you can see a little beach scene reflected in those cool mirror glasses.
I changed the color of the bandanna for a spot of color (you KNOW I like color.)

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BIG, SCARY NEWS: This afternoon I get my new computer. My 5 yr old computer has just about pooped out and the hard drive has less than 10% free space. At the rate I'm posting and saving these big image files, it will be telling me "No mas" pretty soon, I'm thinking.
My new computer will be much faster and with 3 times the storage capacity. What's scary you ask? The operating system of the new one is Windows 7, which I've never used it before, so there will be a learning curve.
Tim Louden, of Business Technologies of Denver, is the computer guru who is setting the whole thing up for me, so I will be free to paint another portrait at least.
I know all you Mac people are disappointed with my choice. There seems to be no group as devoted to their computers (and vocal about it) than the Mac people. Mostly I was concerned that a lot of software programs I have would not load on to a Mac because they were made to be compatible with Windows systems.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Henry, 18/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 18

Henry had a great idea for taking his own picture. He was standing by a window (notice the great light on his face), looking in the mirror, and holding the camera to the side so I could crop out the camera. Brilliant.

Obviously, I pushed the color on this one too - am I going to say that for just about every one? Guess so because they ARE Fauvist style paintings, after all. I liked the red and orange background against his blue shirt. For purchase information, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Diana, 17/100

Day 17

Occasionally, I see someone's photo on Facebook and I'll ask THEM if I could paint their portrait. This lovely lady in the blue hat is an artist who I know as a fellow member of Daily Painters online gallery, Diana Moses Botkin.
The colors of the hat and the yellow-green foliage in the background are just spectacular. I managed to use just about every corner of my palette on this one.
For purchase information, please see my website or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Gogi, 16/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 16

This is just one of the adorable childrens photos I've received. Hopefully I'll be able to get to all of them. Gogi (George) has angelic features AND it is an awesome photo in terms of lighting.
For purchase information, please see my website or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

Every day I'm having more and more fun painting these portraits. Yes, I am STILL collecting photos.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Micah, 15/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 15
I did this painting in December as kind of a dry run on this project. Looking at it now, with 14 other paintings under my belt, I can see things that I should change about this. I have already gotten better at painting portraits. Nothing beats time at the easel to increase your skills. I wonder what these portraits will look like by the time I'm doing the last 10.
The next group of ten, after the current group, will be painted on panels prepped with black gesso. Working on a black background changes a lot about how you approach a painting.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Drouin, 14/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 14
This agreeable looking chap looks happy because he is married to my daughter Lauren, (2/100).
Even though this is a flash photo, which I hate to paint from, I was able to add enough color to make it a somewhat interesting portrait.

People have been asking how I can do this - paint a portrait a day. Last week I wrote about the supports I'm using. Today I will cover photo manipulation.

I'm getting all kinds of photos via email and a few by USPS mail. 99% of the photos I receive have to be cropped into a square format with just the face of the person showing. If the image of the person is too small in the photo, cropping to just show the face, results in a blurry, pixilated image.

As I have said many times, a photo taken in the sun, or with a strong light source to the side, results in shadows on the face that help define the planes of the face and make it easier to paint.
Most of the cropped photos then need to be corrected for brightness, contrast, and sharpness. My photo software is Microsoft's Picture It. It's very easy to use. If I need to do more work with color balancing, I use GIMP, which is a freeware version of Photoshop.

Lastly, after the photo has been cropped and adjusted for color and contrast, I print it on my HP Photosmart 8250 printer on 4x6 photo paper. Image transfer will be discussed next week.


AND THE WINNER IS EDWARD, 9/100 !!! Maybe people were sympathetic about the trouble I had with that green reflection in Edward's glasses, but his portrait got the most votes. Second most popular was David, 5/100. Thank you for voting. We'll do it again when the next set of 10 is completed on 1/20.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Dana, 13/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 13
This lovely lady is another artist (danacooperfineart.com) whose work I admire. Notice the incredible reference photo she sent. It practically paints itself. She said she wanted the Fauvist treatment, so I punched up the color pretty good. The purple is Windsor Newton dioxazine purple and is not this fluorescent - my camera couldn't quite capture that color correctly.

For purchase information, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

Tomorrow is the last day for voting on your favorite from the first group of ten. Email me your vote by midnight Wednesday.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Craig, 12/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 12
Sarah, he looks very agreeable to me! This is the husband of one of my clients. When we share stories about our husbands, it seems like we're married to the same man - monosyllabic answers, grunts, rolled eyes. These guys don't realize how fantastic their wives are!! LOL It's all fun. I especially liked painting his right ear with the light coming through it.
For purchase information, please see my website.

Please remember to vote for your favorite portrait of portriats 1-10. Voting closes at midnight tomorrow.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Jennie, 11/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 11
This is Jenny. She told me she's over 70 and I think she looks fabulous. I really couldn't see making her in Fauvist colors, or anything too wild, so instead, her portrait is a little more refined and sedate.
For purchase information, please see my website or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net

Have you VOTED yet???????? I'm collecting votes until midnight on Wednesday, 1/13. Right now, two portraits in the first group of ten are leading the pack. Only one vote separates them at the moment. I'm not giving hints because I don't want other votes to influence your decision.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Pattie, 10/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Isn't this one a hoot?!?! I just love it. Pattie did all the work with the wild color and the great camera angle in her reference photo - all I had to do was paint it. OK, I might have pushed the color just a little.
For purchase information, please see my website.

This completes the first 10 - TIME FOR YOU TO BE THE JUDGE. You are the juror of this art show, and you have to award first place to one of these portraits. Your criteria can be anything you feel is important about the painting. Lord knows, there is no figuring out what art show judges are thinking half the time.

Scroll down the blog and decide which of the ten you think is the best, then email me your choice - name and the number (note: there are two Suzannes: 1/100 and 8/100).
email: carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net
Please put VOTE in the subject.

I will reveal the winner in 4 or 5 days. Happy voting!