Wedding Portraits in Oil on Gold Leaf

I recently attended the long awaited wedding of my granddaughter Cassidy to her fiance, Luke. Like any grandma I wanted to give them wonderful presents. And I did. My husband and I bequeathed a monetary gift as well as an item from one of her gift registries. But it just wasn't enough. I mean, when you love someone you want to keep on showering them with stuff.  

 Because my granddaughter and her family live three thousand miles from us, it makes showing love in other ways difficult. How many times can you heart someone on Facebook?

I recently became interested in doing miniature portraits and paintings on gold leaf. So I went to Cassidy's FB page and looked over all the wonderful pics she had been posting of her and Luke.  I really liked this one so I copied it and projected it on my computer to work from. This was the result.  I gifted this to her at her wedding shower and she loved it.  Turns out that the photo was a popular one and she had used it on the special wine bottles that were gifted to members of the bridal party and family.  

 I love doing these. The total size for the entire piece framed is 8" x 10".  I can work from any photo you supply as long as it is clean and clear.  Old black and white photos lend themselves nicely to a beautiful antique look as I paint them in a warm sepia tone on the gold leaf. These make wonderful anniversary or wedding gifts. Wouldn't you love to gift your parents or a favorite friend with one?

If you're interested or just have questions, you can email me at: susanspar@susanspar.com.  Check out my website for other gift ideas. Thanks for reading.

Graphite Portrait of African American Man


"Brice"

20" x 16"
Graphite and White Chalk

Just finished this portrait of Brice, one of my models.  It's done on Tan Stonehenge paper which is one of my favorite papers to work on. Unfortunately graphite is a bear to photograph.  I tried using my scanner, my good Nikon camera and my iPhone.  It either comes out too grainy or too contrasty.  Here the lamp on my easel is casting too much light on the image.  But when I remove the light and try for even ambient light, that makes things look weird too. You'll just have to take my word for it that this looks much, much better in person.  Transitions are very subtle in this piece but the photo just doesn't show that.  I'm frustrated enough that this may be the last graphite drawing I post.  Really.

Head Study in Oil

Study of Anna Marie

Oil on Paper


Sometimes I just need to practice and so I whip out a piece of oil paper (Arches) and throw it up on the easel.  If I'm lucky enough to have someone I can nail down to a chair, I'll paint from life. If not, I'll put up one of my many photos of my favorite models and friends on a large vertical monitor and place it back a bit from my easel. The goal is to do the sketch directly onto my surface and then paint into it.

I was pretty happy with the way this one came out although it didn't quite meet all my expectations or goals. Still - practice is practice and the more mileage on a brush, the better the magic it makes.  

Oil Painting of the Virgin Mary

Madonna in Moonlight
16" x 20", Oil on Linen


























A commission for the virgin was my Christmas project. She's kept me busy for some time but was worth the fun and challenge. The composition is a traditional triangle which also represents the Holy Trinity and lends stability to the painting. Mary is painted in moonlight and has a soft halo around her head. The background is stark and rather simplified to bring attention to Mary and represents the world before Christ came into it. Unlike more traditional paintings of the Virgin, Mary is depicted alone, engaged with her unborn child. Her expression has a slightly sad but sweet smile prompting the viewer to wonder at her thoughts.

This piece was very difficult to do as the subject is in moonlight. Under normal conditions at night, the cones in the eye shut down leaving the rods, which depict light and only the colors of blue and green, to do the work. This generally renders the landscape in tones of blue and green. Reds show up as black. Obviously, one can't paint a figure in all blues, greens and black. She'd look like the daughter of Dracula. So I needed to take a lesson from the masters on this and used mostly cool variations of skin tones with cool reds to warm the features. Depending on your monitor, she will either appear a bit cool or a bit too warm. In person, she looks neither. On my monitor the painting appears a bit bright, but she is resting in a dim environment.

I have prints and cards available of this painting. Email me to inquire.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all!

Practice and all that Jazz

Here's a little portrait I did for practice the other day. Her name is Bridgette. She's a friend and former student and has perfect bone structure. I enjoy doing these little portraits because I can get them done quickly. I took a break from a very large project I've been working on for five months. Haven't gotten much else done but I'm almost finished and it will be good to get back to smaller projects that are more speedily completed.

"Bridgette"

Portrait, Oil on Board

"Thoughts of Spring"

Every artist has a favorite model and Amber is without a doubt, mine. She has beautiful bone structure and at the same time a certain softness about her that makes her a pleasure to draw and paint. I did this portrait from a photo that was taken some time back when Amber was pregnant with her son Joshua. It was a rainy, cold day and Amber was standing at the window on a short break. It was the perfect shot so I asked her to hold still while I adjusted the camera. I took hundreds of photos that day but this one was the best. I prefer to work from life, but often my budget or time do not make that possible. Photos can sometimes lead to a stiff or an unnatural looking portrait. This is because when you work from life, the model moves. So the work tends to be a composite of many poses which come together to lend the portrait a certain sense of life. Photos, on the other hand, don't move and this can cause the eye to focus on each portion of the photo separately making for a hard lined and fragmented painting.  I think, however, that I managed to retain Amber's special qualities as well as her quiet moment of hopefulness in this portrait.

Portrait, Oil on Linen

Portrait of Jenna

This small portrait was originally meant to be a two or three day study. The model was sitting for a three or four week pose and my intentions were to do a couple of different studies from different positions. For this reason, the lay in was done in paint rather than taking the time for a careful drawing. However the block in came out so well that my teacher suggested I follow through with it and make it a three week full portrait. I can see changes I'd like to make on it now, but over all it came out pretty well. I love working from life but the reality is that it's hard to do unless you have several people willing to help pay for the pose. Three to four weeks is a long time. I suppose as I improve, it will take less time.