100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS

WHAT: OK, here's the big project: Starting Jan 1, 2010, I will paint a portrait a day for 100 days. Whose portraits, you ask? That's where YOU come in. Anyone can email me, or mail me, a photo for consideration in the Portrait Project. By sending me a photo, you are giving me permission to paint the portrait and publish the completed painting along with the photo, on my blogs, my online gallery - Daily Painters.com, and on my website.

Each portrait will be painted on a 6x6 inch (15.2 x 15.2 cm) panel, in oil, and be available for sale for $65 plus $10 shipping/handling in the US, $20 international. If you wish to purchase a portrait, simply click on the Paypal button on my website.

WHEN: I will start collecting photos immediately and continue doing so during the duration of the project. I will choose which portraits I wish to paint, so sending me a photo does not GUARANTEE that it will be painted as a part of the project.

PRIVACY: I will only reveal the first name of the person, and each portrait will be given a number. So the first portrait will be, for example, "CAROL, 1/100", the second "JANE, 2/100" and so on. Your photo will NOT be returned.

PHOTO REQUIREMENTS: The photo you send should be from the shoulders up only. The photo should be taken by YOU, not a professional photographer. The best photos for portraits have strong light and shadow. A flash photo taken with you looking directly in the camera generally yields a flat image that is not as interesting to paint. No group photos, please.

I will not paint children less than 2 years of age, nor will I paint four-legged best friends. Oh, and please state your eye color, e.g., hazel, gray-green, dark blue, etc, because it's hard to see color in many photos.

WHY: Many of you have seen references on my blog to DSFDF. That stands for Different Strokes from Different Folks.blogspot.com. This is the fabulous Karin Jurick's blog where Karin posts a photo for anyone to paint and then posts it on her blog. Currently on DSFDF, she has participants painting portraits of fellow artists. This is a very fun project and I enjoy looking at all the portraits on that site.

A couple years ago, I did a mini version of this where I painted 12 portraits in Fauvist style. These twelve people are hanging on the wall in my bathroom and I enjoy looking at them every day - I'm used to these 12 people looking at me in the bathroom now, but at first it was a bit disconcerting.

STYLE: I will paint the portraits generally in a Fauvist style which involves using unusual colors and strong brushwork. Faces may be cropped for artistic effect. I may decide to give you a purple nose and a green forehead - I reserve the right to be wild and crazy. I will endeavor to achieve a likeness to the photo, but since I'm working from a single photo reference, I cannot guarantee the painting will be a perfect image.

OBLIGATION: You are under no obligation to purchase your portrait. This is not a commissioned portrait.

CONTACT: My email address is: carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.
My studio address is: 13904 E. Radcliff Pl, Aurora, CO 80015

I think this has the potential to be a very fun project. Many daily painters have completed 100 paintings in 100 days, although I'm not aware of anyone doing strictly portraits as a project.
With your help, I will be able to create a sizable body of work and improve my skills as a portrait artist.

PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST, 9117, 8x12 oil on MDF panel

This lovely lady is an artist that I do not know. I painted her portrait as part of Karin Jurick's challenge blog called Different Strokes from Different Folks. Each artist sent Karin a photo of themselves. Karin then sent them out to other artists to paint.
I had fun with this portrait. I was going to take several photos of the painting in progress, but I got so involved in the process that I only took one. Her white/blond hair made for a dramatic painting. Click on the blog name for a link to see everyone's efforts at painting total strangers with only one photo reference.

CONCOURSE B, 9109, airport commuters © Carol Nelson Fine Art

This is the latest torture installment on Karin Jurick's blog, Different Strokes from Different Folks.blogspot.com. Painting this was like being waterboarded. I just wanted it to be over. The dramatic lighting from an overhead skylight and the extreme foreshortening of the figures made for 4 hours of hell. Check out the blog, and see how nearly everyone struggled with this one - although several are excellent.

As you can see from the reference photo, I took a few liberties with the colors. The people in the photo don't even look real to me. To purchase this 6x6 oil painting for $100, please email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net

SOLD

CITYSCAPE 2, 9097, abstracted city rooftops and architecture © Carol Nelson Fine Art

This is a larger version of the DSFDF photo of city roof tops. The first version I did is much smaller and is a mixed media piece - see blog entry of 10/18/2009. This one is on canvas and it simply acrylic paints and modeling compound . I've been working on this painting for about two weeks and it has undergone numerous transformations. I am finally happy with the result.

Being an abstracted version of the photo, it is all about patterns, negative space, and focal point. As you can see the complexity of the shapes increases to the right and slightly below the middle of the painting. Rotating the painting to a vertical format yields an equally interesting composition.

The colors evolved on their own. The reference photo was mostly subtle tones of blue, grey and yellow. Most of my work is not subtle in terms of palette! I love strong value contrasts so I was able to go nuts with this one.
For purchase information, please see my website.

CITYSCAPE, 9085, mixed media abstract of city architecture

At my recent Metals and Mixed Media workshop, I worked on this abstract featuring several metallic and textural elements. I didn't have time to complete it at the workshop. As a matter of fact, it was still in the "is this going to work" stage by the end of the workshop.
As is often the case with abstract work, I looked at it with new eyes the next day, and did sufficient tweaking to it that I am now happy with the result.
The inspiration for this painting came from Karin Jurick's Different Strokes from Different Folks blog. The minute I saw her latest photo posting for the challenge, I KNEW I had to do it as an abstract. Of course the composition's the thing and there are so many different compositions you could make from this awesome photo.
For purchase information, please see my website.

Wig Shop Divas, 01609 mannequins with wigs

This painting was done from a photograph provided on the blog Different Strokes From Different Folks, where artists are encouraged to paint or draw their own interpretations. This is my first entry of a painting on DSFDF. The blog is hosted by Karin Jurick and I must say the photo we are all working from, a shot of the front window of a wig shop, is truly diabolical. There are no less than a dozen mannequins in the shot.
I picked these three because I liked the sunglasses on them - a nice touch. I think the one on the right reminds me of Michael Jackson.
This oil painting is on panel size 5.5x8 inches.
For purchase information please see my website.