recent studies

Figure study after the work of Christina Grace Mastrangelo, who's a student at the NYC Art Academy. She is probably no more than 20 years of age and already paints masterfully! Viewing her work and that of her fellow students on the ARC site was extremely uplifting and I'm happy that their talent got acknowledged and they were awarded a scolarship. The purpose of this quick study for me was to examine the shifts of form. I feel terribly disandvantaged by the fact that I can't find a single life painting workshop around here. This is 30x40cm oil on canvas.

Reference by Patrick Hedges from the WC reference image library, 30x40cm oil on canvas

20x25cm grisaille glazing experiment from the WC portrait challenge.

still life color study

I painted this from life with lesser emphasis on composition and accuracy, focus on color. 30x40cm oil on canvas

recent charcoal/graphite exercises

Sofi's commission

Sofi is a popular Israeli actress and a TV star who commissioned me to paint a surprise birthday portrait for her sister, featuring her brother in law and nephews. The problem was that she didn't have any photographs of them together or separately that were either sharp or decently lit. Well, since it was supposed to be a surprise portrait, we needed to work something out! Here she is with the unfinished portrait, very happy with the way it is turning.

P.S. Sofi is beautiful! Who knows, maybe I will paint her some day.

Usually I don't upload commissioned portraits, but this time the clients asked me to. The photos were taken by them, probably as the paintings were hanging on the wall. Both are posthumous portraits, 40cm x 50cm oil on canvas.

Woman in Red

This is my latest figure painting, 50cm x 60cm oil on canvas, in impasto

The little girl revisited

A few more adjustments and here's the finished version of the little girl.

A few of my new paintings

"Take Time to Smell the Flowers", from the WC! reference image library. The little girl was so adorable that I wanted to paint her as soon as I saw the photo. 40cm x 50cm, oil on canvas.

After W. Bouguereau's "Head Study of a Blond Girl", 30cm x 40cm

This is Lulu, a fellow member of WetCanvas!, painted in impasto, 30cm x 40cm, oil on dark toned canvas.

Patriot

The reference is, again, from the wonderful WC reference image library, a photo taken by lisilk called Blacksmith. A flag in the workshop, which I thought was unusual, immediately triggered in my mind an irresistable patriotic association. 40cm x 50cm oil on canvas.

Baby Chloe

30cm x 40cm oil on canvas

Following requests, I picked two nice references and painted flowers.

White Roses (photo taken by stephie20 from the WC reference image library), 30cm x 40cm oil on canvas.

Sunflowers (Still Life, photo taken by MandyB from the WC reference image library), 30cm x 40cm, oil on canvas.

Another Bouguereau study - Etude Tete de Jeune fille (head study of a young girl)

I wanted to paint this for me to keep. 30cm x 40cm oil on canvas

A study after Benjamin Wu

Benjamin Wu is an amazing figurative painter and I wanted to do at least one study after his work. This is 40cm x 50cm oil on canvas.

Les Prunes Bouguereau

Another small Bouguereau study, 30cm x 40cm oil on canvas. Needless to say I'm a huge Bouguereau admirer. Some day I might attempt a real copy the way he usually painted - life size.

Figurative Improvisation

I painted this as part of my figure studies. It was a major challenge because I only had one black&white reference for the girl sitting on the left. All three figures had to be adjusted in order to "fit in". The composition and background are completely random. 50cm x 60cm oil on canvas

Bouguereau study - The Bather

This is a small study after W. Bouguereau's The Bather. 30cm x 40cm oil on canvas

Inna

Inna is my neighbor's beautiful daughter. 40cm x 50cm oil on canvas

Katy's mom, the commission I'm working on. 40cm x 50cm oil on canvas

My neighbor Irit. 40cm x 50cm, oil on canvas

Bella from the WetCavans free image library, 40cm x 40cm oil on canvas

Back to my blog

It's been a long while since I visited my blog. I've been working very hard the entire time, painting and otherwise. The plan is to turn painting my main occupation with enough savings to avoid financial dependence on random commissions.

Below are a few of my paintings from recent months. More will follow.

The reference for Chelsey-May is courtesy of her grandmother Gracey, who's a great photographer. 30cm x 40cm oil on canvas

I found Krista (Krystle)'s photo on morguefile.com which is a great resource of copyright free photo references. 30cm x 40cm oil on canvas

Sarit sat for me while I painted her. She's a restless model but fun to paint! 30cm x 40cm oil on canvas

Leighton's "Biodina" head study progress

Hectic Month

It's been such a busy month for me that I had a very little time to paint. I thought I'd post the work I've done as part of the WetCanvas Portrait Challenge. I've fallen in love with the reference so much that couldn't resist giving it a shot. It's an absolute masterpiece of old masters, in my opinion. Unfortunately I don't recall the artist's name. It's beautifally painted. The girl's face is so unique that I haven't seen anything like it. It turned to be quite a challenge for me! I believe it'd take masterful skill to create a perfect replica of this work, and I'm definitely not at that level yet. All in all, it's been an amazing learning experience.

The first image is the reference itself:

Below are 1) my attempt, 2) head study

I've decided to submit an entry to the WetCanvas' February Portrait Challenge, eventhough my canvas was way too small for the subject. Here's the result.

20cm X 30cm

oil on stretched canvas

some of my paintings