100 OIL PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Sharron, 67/100, Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 67

This lovely lady is the mother of my daughter's husband, Drouin (14/100.) Sharron and her husband Lee live in Queensland, Australia now, although they used to live in Denver. I knew I could relate to her the minute I met her because we're both stretching to be 5 feet tall.

I called Dru to ask him what color his mother's eyes were since I couldn't tell from the photo (and I didn't remember). He didn't know! Then he called back later to say they were hazel. I think it's the curse of the hazel-eyed people. Their eye color depends on what they're wearing, so nobody really knows what color their eyes are.

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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.
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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 - 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 - 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.
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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!

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Edward, 9/100 © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Those glasses caused me a lot of grief, Ed. Could not pin down that green color. Ended up with a mixture of veridian, white, cad yellow pale and cobalt. Sheesh. The rest of the portrait was a breeze.

Please remember that tomorrow will be the 10th portrait of the first group of ten. Be sure to vote for your favorite - yes, you can vote for yourself - at least every painting should have ONE vote. LOL

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

Someone inquired about my Zazzle merchandise. I would like to remind everyone that you may also get your portrait printed on a mug, shirt, totebag, etc. Email me if you're interested in this.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Suzanne, 8/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 8
I didn't go too wild with the colors on this portrait unless you call the purple hair wild. You would think that painting down cast eyes, such as this lady's, would not be a problem, but I had a terrible time with her right eye. Had to paint it and wipe it off about 3 times.

It seems like every portrait has it's own set of problem areas. On the bright side, by the time I've done a hundred of these, there probably won't be anything I haven't encountered.

Some people have inquired about my painting process, so today I'll discuss the supports I'm using for this project. I go to Home Depot and buy a 2 x 4 foot piece 1/4 inch thick MDF (medium density fiberboard). Then I have the HD folks cut it into 6 inch strips. When I get home I cut the strips into 6 inch sections on my table saw. The MDF board is a very smooth surface, which is essential for such detailed work.

Each 6x6 inch panel is then filed on the edges and gessoed. I'm using white gesso now, but think I will try black gesso in a future group. I may even do some in acrylic with collage materials. We'll see.

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

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Carolyn, 7/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 7
Hey, Carolyn, I didn't say anything about HANDS, but I should have. ; - ) Hands are a pain to paint. It is so easy to have them end up looking unnatural. On the other hand (so to speak) I DID enjoy doing the rest of your portrait. I've discovered I like to paint people wearing glasses. Don't know why, I just do.
For purchase information, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

We are getting close to the end of the first group of ten portraits. I would like all of my viewers to look again at portraits 1-10, pick their favorite, and email me their choice. I will publish the votes, and at the end of the whole project, I will reprint the top picks from each group of 10 to vote for the Grand Poobah winner.

Your choice can be based on any criteria you wish - excellent likeness, wild colors, painterly approach, expression, whatever. I think this will be fun.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Chloe, 6/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 6
This little girl was irresistible with her smile (minus the front two teeth) and the fabulous back lit pale blond hair. This is another good example of how important good lighting is for making an interesting photo/painting.
I'm sure Chloe had a recent visit from the Tooth Fairy. When my kids were little, the going rate from the Tooth Fairy was 25 cents/tooth or something like that. I suppose that's up to over $1/tooth by now.
For purchase information on this painting, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - David, 5/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 5
This is David looking rather tired and disheveled the morning after "a jazz quartet kept playing in my pillow." Many of you will recognize this fine artist as David Darrow, aka Dave the Painting Guy. His wit is as sharp as his skill at the easel.
I had fun with this painting keeping the palette muted to match his mood. For purchase information, please see my website.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Edgar, 4/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 4
Fauvism was an art movement in the early 1900's made popular by Matisse and other artists of that time period. Art critics in Paris were aghast at the outrageous colors used in these paintings. Matisse's portrait of his wife, Madame Matisse, is also known as the green line.
My subject here, Edgar, said he would like a portrait done in Fauvist style, so I modeled the color scheme after Matisse's portrait of his wife.
As you can see, about the only thing that really represents Edgar are his blue eyes, yet it does look like him, green nose and all.
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A word about your photos

I am thrilled with all your positive responses to my portrait project. I appreciate every photo that
is sent in and I'm grateful that you want to participate.

Let me clarify a little about lighting on the photos you are sending me. Many are flash photos looking directly into the camera. This creates a flat image that is more difficult for me to interpret in paint.

Take a good look at the above photos. They are some excellent examples of what I'm looking for in a photo in terms of lighting. If you don't have a photo with this kind of lighting, send it in anyhow, and I'll see if I can manipulate it with photo software. Sometimes I can increase the contrast and decrease the brightness to get a better image.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS-Ishrath, 3/100 © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 3. This is one of three fabulous photos sent to me by Ishrath in India. Ishrath writes a blog/website called www.wanderingmist.com which I find very interesting and insightful.
Look at this photo - how could it not turn out to be a good portrait? Ishrath photographed this lady in the Jaipur area of India.
For purchase information, please see my website.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Lauren, 2/100 © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 2. This is my beautiful daughter, Lauren. This picture was taken on a boat in Sydney harbor when Lauren and her husband, Drouin, lived in Australia. They recently moved back to Denver and I'm so glad.

The fun thing about this portrait was doing the sunglasses with the reflections on them.

Remember, if you've already sent me a photo of yourself, and you want to have me publish the link to your blog or website when I post your portrait, to send the address to me.