Devon #13 - One Hundred Alla Prima Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                                  "Devon"
"Don't try to fit in with the popular crowd.  Its really not worth it... Some (teenagers) are concerned about grades, some about popularity, and some about relationships.  I personally go with the flow of things, but still remain focused on schoolwork and friends".

In this painting I put a cool, blue filter from a theater supply store over the light.  It created a cooler light source than our usual warm halogen light, and affected all of the colors. You can especially see it in the highlights of her hair.  This is something we often do in color study classes at Studio Incamminati, in order to push the students to see the influence of the light source on the colors.  I wanted to see if I could approximate daylight.

Maria #12 - One Hundred Alla Prima Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                            "Maria"

“Remember what is really important in your life and don’t loose sight of who you really are, stay focused but remember to relax and have fun.”

 
I added two layers of Rublev's lead white ground to this canvas,  tinting the second layer gray, and applied it with a palette knife.  It created a wonderful buttery surface to paint on, but the way I applied it left "lap" lines, which I didn't intend.  I have known Maria and her parents since she was little, which always makes it special, and I have painted her portrait before, holding her cat.  Couldn't help thinking about Sargent's beautiful painting of the Capri girl while painting this. I am learning to work faster, but still finding only four hours to be quite a challenge.

Simone #11- One Hundred Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                          "Simone"
Simone looked like a she could have been a model for the Renaissance painter Botticelli. What a pleasure and a privilege it is to paint these interesting young people!  I paint almost exclusively with a brush, but in this painting I decided to try a palette knife to apply the background.

                                             "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli, 1485

# 10 Mack - One Hundred Alla Prima Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                                "Mack"

"Teenagers are concerned with nothing but materialistic ideals, of which I don't agree.  Try to look at things on a larger scale."

I am still working out my alla prima process, and I want to experiment with working in a more painterly way.  This painting feels a little too safe; I want to experiment and try to work in new ways but I am not sure how I am going to do this yet.  I have a quote from choreographer Twyla Tharp on my refrigerator  to help guide me. "Venturing out of your comfort zone may be dangerous, yet you do it anyway because our ability to grow is directly proportional to an ability to entertain the uncomfortable". 

# 9 Jane - One Hundred Alla Prima Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                              "Jane"

I have been trying out different types of canvas for this project,  preparing it different ways in search of a surface that I like for alla prima.  This painting is done on Claessens #13 DOP,  toned a cool middle gray using Rublev's lead white, with a little burnt sienna and ultramarine blue added.  Oil primed linen is slippery and doesn't cover well in one session, so I thought using lead white, which is the leanest white, in the tone mixture would create a dryer, more semi-absorbant surface, and would be easier to work on.  I am no expert at this, but maybe I will be by the time I get to 100!  I welcome any suggestions you have if you have experience with this.

# 8 Sade - One Hundred Alla Prima Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                            "Sade"

Matt #7 - One Hundred Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                          "Matt"
"High school is four tiny years of your entire life.  Should you have a good time and make friends? Sure.  Is it unfair when sometimes you're faced with bullies or other negative influences?  Definitely.  But you have to keep on walking forward; years later you'll look back on your teenage years and they'll be so far back and look so silly, you'll just laugh at all the bad times and the good times.  So right now, in this moment...just always look on the bright side of life, really (advice for other teens).

Faith #6 - One Hundred Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                             "Faith"
 “As simple as it sounds, just take one day at a time, move slow, breathe, and appreciate everything life hands you, because life is a learning experience.  Without mistakes we will never grow. I feel the most difficult issue teens are faced with today are the uncertainty of their future, and how to thoroughly achieve their goals.”


Faith's portrait was the first one I liked.  I was a little nervous about the commitment I made to do this project,  not really knowing how I was going to paint a portrait in 4 hours, but during this painting I realized I could do it.  She was very serene and I tried to tap into and communicate that feeling; she eased me along without even knowing it.

Ellie #5 - One Hundred Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                             "Ellie"

 "Let your children make mistakes.  Don't break out the whips or the scolding.  Let them grow and learn.  Guide, don't shove" (suggestions for parents).

Ashley #4- One Hundred Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                            "Ashley"

Ashley is a student at Repenning Fine Arts in Audubon, New Jersey,  where I am painting this series.  In the upper right hand corner, you can see the cool blue-gray tone that I use to prepare the canvas.

Steph #3 - One Hundred Portraits of American Teenagers

"Steph"

 “No matter how bad something may be right now, its most likely not going to bother you in a few years… my friends are very important to me.” 

Steph arrived to pose for us with a long, green wig, and we decided to go with it. Of course, we named it "It's not easy being green." In this painting I am trying to work out how much I can get accomplished in 4 hours, what I want to include, and what I can leave out.  One of my goals in this series is to experiment.  I didn't get all of the original brown "grisaille" covered,  some of the brown under painting is showing in the shadows on her neck.

Danielle #2 - One Hundred Portraits of American Teenagers

     

       "Danielle"                  

Ian #1 - One Hundred Portraits of American Teenagers

                                                                               "Ian"

This is the first painting in this series. It was painted on a panel, and measures 12 x 12.  I decided I prefer to work a little larger, and the rest of the paintings are 14 x 14.  I also decided I  prefer canvas, so I changed that too, for now.  I have known Ian since he was a baby,  his family are very close friends of mine, so it was special to start the series with him as the model. He is a musician and plays the violin, and we listened to an amazing play list he made for the entire session.