My latest commission – precious little Scarlett was born January 10. The drawing is 8×10 done in 2H & 2B graphite with a tortillion (blending stump). Click the photo to enlarge.

“Thirty-six Faces of Expression”

Image: World Historical Comics

You can see the color version here, but personally I prefer the black and white reproduction (I believe the print was made by Dore, aptly enough). ArtMight.com: 36 Expressions

Boilly (1761-1845) was rough contemporary of Jacques-Louis David. He was a gifted portraitist and a specialist in genre painting of the French bourgeoisie.

Left: The Girl with the Pearl Earring, originally called Girl Wearing a Turban – thought to be Vermeer’s eldest daughter.

Vermeer was born in 1632 in Delft, Netherlands. He has been dubbed the “Sphinx of Delft” for his confounding obscurity. Unlike many of the Old Masters, there is little documentation of his life, his training, or his work. He produced relatively few paintings during his lifetime; never traveled far beyond his hometown; left behind no drawings or studies to show his method; and worked with a guild but never had students to pass on his techniques.

Most of his paintings portray the industry and accomplishment of the privileged Dutch middle class, despite the fact that he worked during a period of war and economic depression. In fact many of his original works were sold off after his death in 1675 to relieve his widow and children of debts he had accrued in trying to support his large family. While he did not lead a lavish lifestyle, he must have been dependent to a large extent on wealthy patrons.

Although little is known of his painting process, an apparent signature of his work is the underpainting technique which he used to imitate the subtleties of refracted and diffused light. His portrayals of undertones, shadows and reflections are considered the most accurate and precise of all the great artists.

Above: Young Woman with a Water Pitcher – quintessential Vermeer, depicting a tranquil domestic scene. Notice again the blue-yellow color combination.

Another Vermeer signature is the consistently cool color palette and the particular combination of complementary yellows and blues. This is a prominent feature in his most famous works, and appears in some form in nearly all of his paintings. He especially favored blue midtones such as cornflower and made unparalleled use of the rare and expensive lapis lazuli pigment with striking effect.

The Geographer and The Astronomer. I love the way the geographer gazes out of the window – very typical of Vermeer. Another artist might have chosen to depict this scholar immersed in his charts; but here Vermeer captures the soul of imagination and exploration.

See a critical comparison of the two here and here.

VERMEER AND REMBRANDT: A comparison

Vermeer’s caliber ranks him in a class with another great Dutch painter, Rembrandt, whose careers slightly overlapped (Rembrandt lived 1606-1679). Like Rembrandt, his style depends on strong chiaroscuro effects and solid, detailed composition. But there are several notable features separating the two great artists.

Rembrandt favored warm, heavy tones; Vermeer worked in cool colors with a marked preference for blues. His style of underpainting helped him to achieve remarkable crispness and transparency.

Among Rembrandt’s favorite subjects were biblical scenes, while Vermeer painted almost exclusively in genre and avoided the common religious and mythological themes.

Rembrandt’s pieces have a strong sense of motion and and a flair for the ostentatious and exotic (although this tone changed decidedly in his later works). Vermeer’s subjects are pensive, tranquil – almost existential in quality. It’s worth noting how many paintings out of Vermeer’s entire output show individuals gazing out of windows. This is a distinctive characteristic that crops up repeatedly in his work.

Contrast this with a strong trend in Rembrandt’s paintings: his penchant for self-depiction. Vermeer is not known to have painted a single self-portrait.

Girl Interrupted at her Music: An especially beautiful example of Vermeer’s careful and candid treatment of faces

Further reading:

Virtual Vermeer – very good site dedicated to exploring Vermeer’s work, his life and times

The Essential Vermeer website

Biography and resources from Artble.com

National Gallery of Art: Virtual Exhibit – Vermeer’s “Woman Holding a Balance”

My latest pastel is about halfway finished. Next I’ll be working on the armbands and hands, and finishing his leather vest. After that, some detail work and a few finishing touches and I’ll consider it done.

A quick trick I learned for imitating metallic objects, like the silver-studded border on his vest:
use a plain white colored pencil.

Colored pencils are terrible on suede, but they come in very handy for this one purpose. I use them wherever I need to indicate points of light or very small areas of brilliant white. It’s so much easier than trying to achieve this with chalks. The best part is that the combination of textures works very well – the pencil won’t smear on the suede, so I can cover it with chalk and it still shows up well. Besides, I like the effect.

More to come…

My reference photo is an old black and white of a young Shoshone scout, taken in the 1870′s. More on that later…

Acoma, 18×24 pastel on suede matboard.
The original photo was taken in 1905 by Edward Curtis.

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Acoma

About the Acoma

The Acoma people, who call themselves “Haaku,” are one of nearly two dozen Pueblo communities in northern New Mexico. Their pueblo, known as “Sky City,” is built on top of a mesa where for centuries the only access was a single staircase carved by hand out of the sheer sandstone walls. Thanks in part to this defensive position, Acoma is possibly the oldest continuously inhabited constructed settlement in North America.

From its remote perch on the steep white plateau, the Acoma pueblo has witnessed the rise and fall of the Aztec and Maya empires (its trading partners in ancient times), the incursions of Spanish conquistadors, and the American conquest of the Southwest. Today, the Acoma still live in their ancestral fortress, where they continue to practice traditional arts, ceremonies, and farming.

More on Acoma history:

Acoma Sky City

Pueblo of Acoma

Over time I’ve worked out my favorite combination of chalks to use for portraits (see examples below) in order to achieve a rich skin tone with some highlighting and dark, dramatic shadows. Here’s my list of must-have chalks:

Black
I always apply black first. It helps outline the portrait and gives a boundary to work with, and still shows up even after several layers of blending. I use my Prismacolor Nupastel black for this (I always keep two boxes just of this black on hand, since I go through them so fast) because they are semi-hard and you get a firm clean edge, good for outlining. But you can use really any texture of black for the under coat.

Sennelier #004 Red Ochre (“Black Brown”)
I use this as a wash over the entire flesh area. You don’t see this in the final product, but it serves two important purposes – 1) it keeps the matboard from showing through (especially important if you use dark suede) and 2) it acts as a base coat when blending the chalks, to keep the tone from looking washed-out. I’m told this typical of the oil painting process – which I wouldn’t know, not being an authority on oils, but it makes complete sense for any medium that uses heavy layering. The bright red wash looks bizarre in the beginning, but it’s well worth it.

Art Spectrum V552 (“Burnt Umber”)
This is the other under-layer or chalk. I apply this very light color wherever I want to show areas of strong highlight or reflection. If you are layering your chalks, DO NOT PUT THE HIGHLIGHT COLOR ON TOP; using white or light-colored pastel over the skin tone to add brightness only makes it look dull and pasty. Apply it as an undercoat and blend the flesh tone over it. This way it shows up very smooth and gives a nice subtle glow, rather than looking chalky. The stronger or brighter you want the light, the thicker you apply the umber, so it doesn’t blend away when you apply flesh tone.

Sennelier #3712 (“Gamboge”)
This is my second choice for highlighting, but I use it sparingly because Sennelier’s soft pastels are so thick and clay-like. Too much and you risk filling up the suede pile and not being able to layer. I use it only where I need some very dense highlighting.

Sennelier #89 (“Venetian Red”)
This is a lush, luminous orange color I use as a mid-tone in conjunction with highlighting to keep the flesh from looking washed-out. It’s rich texture and vibrancy make it incredibly pleasant to work with – but a little goes a very long way, so I never apply it directly. Just smudge a little on your finger and brush it on the suede.

Nupastel #353-P (“Cordovan”)
This is one of my favorite colors for dark flesh tone. It is semi-hard but extremely smooth so I can blend over several layers of chalk with it. A good coat of this really starts to bring the face to life. It is especially useful for shadows where you don’t want the black chalk to make the skin lose its color (skin under a shadow looks redder, not grayer).

Nupastel #273-P (“Tuscan Red”)
A second shade of flesh tone that’s little lighter, a bit closer to pink. I layer this over much of the face and use it to transition between the darker areas and the bright highlights. Because these chalks don’t go on very thick, the pigments are not as intense as they appear in color swatches, making them much more flexible. They can be as solid or as subtle as you want, so at this stage I start working with the texture in much more detail.

Of course you’ll need a few other colors to finish your portrait, but these are a pretty good starting combination. My Sneak Peek: In Progress category shows portraits in various stages of completion, so you can get a good idea of the process.

Both of these finished portraits, Lummi (16×20) and Crow (24×30) were made with the same assortment of pastels (click to see full-size images.)

See more like these on my Gallery page.

Check out my Latest page to see them all step-by-step.

When painting a portrait, don’t put in the eyes until the rest of the face is more or less complete. As tempting as it may be to show the whites of the eyes early on, or the bright reflection that really makes them “pop,” you’ll just end up having to touch them up or even do them over when the white is dulled by chalk debris. Bright whites (including teeth) and the twinkle in the eye really should be last-minute touches.

And just to be clear, remember that “white” areas are rarely pure white; diffused light gives them a colored cast, often blue or pink, and subtle coloring helps to give shape and depth to an otherwise cartoonish white surface.

Close-up of “Lummi,” 16×20 pastel on suede

Left: Self-Portrait, Oil on lime panel (1500)

Durer is most famous for his signature work – the ubiquitous “Praying Hands.” The story has it that they are the hands of his brother, who gave up his chance at an art career in order to provide for Albrecht’s training. Praying Hands, brush drawing on blue primed paper (c. 1508)

Whether or not the story is apocryphal, Durer did go on to become possibly the most influential artist of the Northern Renaissance. Durer’s style is characterized by painstaking attention to detail and a focused, dramatic approach to composition. His fascinating portfolio betrays him as a man with an open mind and a curious nature.

He was a prolific artist, and unlike his Italian contemporary Leonardo da Vinci, left behind an incredibly diverse collection of artwork in a wide range of mediums and subjects. Well over a thousand of his paintings, drawings, and etchings have survived to the present day.

Left: Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman,
Oil on elm panel (1505)

Right:
Head Study of a Man Aged 93, Brush drawing on primed paper (1521)

Like da Vinci, however, his most significant accomplishment lay in his ability as a draftsman. Living in Germany in the wake of the printing revolution, he used the crafts of woodcutting and engraving to capitalize on the potential of art reproduction as an industry, making him one the most widely published and esteemed artists of the Renaissance.

Web Gallery of Art – Online Museum Database: Albrecht Durer Biography and Gallery

Below: Wing of a Roller, watercolor/gouache on vellum (1512)
Right: Two Squirrels (1492)
Below right: Young Hare, watercolor and gouache (1502)

Leonardo was born near Florence, Italy and spent his career in various Italian city-states during the height of the Renaissance. He is the archetype of the “renaissance man” – inventor, engineer, architect, botanist, anatomist, mathematician, philosopher, musician, sculptor, and artist. His reputation has eclipsed even such contemporaries as Michelangelo and Raphael. And in recent times his legend has undergone something of a renaissance (no pun intended) thanks to Dan Brown.

Out of all his achievements, Leonardo is best remembered as a painter. The Mona Lisa and the Last Supper are still cultural icons and arguably the most famous paintings in the world.

His work largely contributed to the development of modern painting, especially portraiture. Ironically, few of his paintings have survived (not much over a dozen) and many of these are not entirely original due to the practice of sub-contracting work to talented apprentices who exchanged acknowledgment for experience under a master’s guidance.

The bulk of Leonardo’s artistic work consists of his extensive drawings of many subjects, ranging from character studies to anatomy to landscapes.

Leonardo: Master Draftsman – Interactive exhibit from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Quotes:

“A good painter is to paint two main things, men and the working of man’s mind.”

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”

“Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.”

“The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.”

If you’re working in pastels, the size of your matboard canvas is especially important. Too small, and you won’t be able to achieve as much detail in your painting; too big and you have a huge amount of area to cover and often some wasted canvas space. 16×20 is my favorite size to work with. It’s just right for a life-sized head and shoulders view. For a portrait I don’t use anything smaller than 12×16, which is best for smaller, close-up facial portraits.

Comanche Boy, 12×16

24×30 or 24×36 on the large end is perfect for a bust or three-quarter length portrait, and it can accommodate plenty of detail without being completely unmanageable (at this size they can be awkward to transport before they’re framed!)

Blackfoot, 24×30

Almost any canvas – including very small or odd-sized pieces – will suit wildlife paintings, since animals come in so many shapes and sizes. If I have a project that requires a special size, so that when I cut my matboard the result is several odd-shaped scrap pieces, I can always use them for my animal portraits.

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Zuni

Now I can add the signature and it will be ready for my Gallery. You can see the painting in various stages by clicking the “Latest” tag below, or “Sneak Peek” on the menu.

This portrait is based on a 1903 photograph from the Edward Curtis collection. A huge portion of this work is dedicated to images of the Southwest, particularly the Pueblo regions where this man is from.

One of the most interesting features of this picture, I think, is the fairly inconspicuous heishi necklace he is wearing. Heishi is a Pueblo word meaning “shell jewelry” which refers to a type of jewelry manufactured only by the Pueblo Indians. It is possibly the oldest form of jewelry in the Americas, and examples of this ancient art form dating back as far as 8,000 years have been unearthed throughout the ancestral Pueblo homelands in the Four Corners area.

(Click to enlarge)

Heishi making is an extremely fine and painstaking craft that involves the grinding, piercing, and threading of tiny pieces of shell and semi-precious stones into uniformly shaped beads. The materials best suited to heishi jewelry were usually imported via trade network from the Pacific and Gulf Coasts, and sometimes from as far away as South America. A single necklace composed of several strands could contain thousands of beads. Pueblo craftsmen still produce these exquisite necklaces today.

The Collector’s Guide – New Mexico Native Arts: Heishi Jewelry

Thomas Rolfe was the only child of the legendary Powhatan “Indian princess” Pocahontas and her English husband John Rolfe. Pocahontas, whom we all know from grade school history, was the daughter of the sachem or chief of the Powhatan Confederacy of Virginia’s Tidewater Region, and a pivotal figure in the founding of the Jamestown colony.

Although much of her life has been shrouded in popular mythology, many facts are well-established. In 1614 she was baptized Rebecca and married English planter John Rolfe in Virginia, where their son Thomas was born a year later. They traveled to England in 1616 where she and her son were presented at the court of King James and received with great ceremony. She died in 1617 at the age of 23 after falling ill on the voyage home. The young Thomas remained in England, where he later married an Englishwoman and served in the English military. He eventually returned to his birthplace in Virginia. The Rolfe’s influential position as planters made their descendants one of the founding families of Virginia, from which many politicians and other prominents have claimed descent.

Although only one portrait is known to have been made of Pocahontas in her lifetime, this painting showing her with her young son Thomas may have been commissioned shortly after her death. Known as the Sedgeford portrait, it was allegedly passed down through the Rolfe family for hundreds of years and now resides in a museum. Most representations of her tend to reflect stereotypes or agendas in the portrayal of history. The Nova special “Pocahontas Revealed” explores the many aspects of the Pocahontas story, and also features an interactive examining many famous Pocahontas portraits and how depictions of her have changed over time.

“Pocahontas Revealed”: A PBS Nova documentary

Virtual Jamestown: Pocahontas
(An essay from the Virtual Jamestown Museum with many little-known facts about Pocahontas)

Almost done with my portrait Zuni. I need to touch up a few areas on the face and the headscarf, then complete his shoulders & heishi necklace.

I used mostly Nupastels for the flesh and hair, since they are smaller and firmer and work well in small spaces. For the base coat and highlights I use my Sennelier soft pastels because they blend so smoothly. To make the reflection appear glossy, I rub a little of a pale pink soft pastel on top of the base coat, then apply a light layer from a darker Nupastel; this prevents a dull chalky look. I love the deep furrowed wrinkles in this expressive face; to achieve realism I have used the shadow color directly against the highlight tone, so the strong contrast draws the eye and creates depth.

Click the “latest” or “sneak peek” tags below to see the step-by-step photos of the portrait.