Children's Portrait - Chelsea and Thomas

When I start a painting I try to  visualize first how I would like the finished painting  to look like. The reference photograph I used for Chelsea's and Thomas' portrait is actually cropped somewhere in the bottom section. It  doesn't show Chelsea's  elbows.  I decided to show her elbow as I thought doing so would create a more balanced composition.  By completing Chelsea's arm, I thought I can play around more with  how their clothings  merge with the  background colour. I then started working  on their faces, noting the details in the process.   Then after the faces, I rendered their clothings. I changed the colour of Chelsea's clothes to creamy yellow. Once I was happy with the progress, I roughly added in the background.  At first I planned to just render a very plain sky blue background. Yes, it looks clean and subdued but is kind of boring. The image size is a  bit on the larger size  ( 39cm x 49cm) so really, a plain background would look uninteresting and flat.  The next thing I did was to experiment on the background. I decided to make it more lively. No idea at first how to do it, but eventually settled with lots of rough vertical strokes of various colours which gave it a more painterly and dynamic appearance. Happy with that! My client thought that Thomas' eyes were a bit different from the reference photograph so I did a bit of tweaking to fix it. Then to finish it off, I enhanced the details of Thomas' face and  Chelsea's arms. After that it was time to put aside my pastels. All done!

 

Free Portrait on offer!!!!

Happy Sunday Everyone!!! This is something fun and an expression of gratitude for checking out my artworks on my facebook page. I have decided to do a portrait for FREE!!!! Yes, yes , and yes ... a FREE A5 size unframed portrait ( 1 pet or 1 person, your choice) for the 550th liker/sharer  on my facebook page: Victor's Art - Portraits, Paintings and Photography. ( see sidebar on this page)  Invite your friends to like my page too so they can have a chance to get a FREEEEEE portrait too!!!!!


P.S. For new likers, likes should be in my page: Victor's Art- Portraits, Paintings and Photography to be considered.

For those who have previously liked my facebook page, a 'share' of my page is equivalent to a 'like' so you also have a chance to get the free portrait too!!!
 
Wherever you are in the world your free portrait will be posted to you!!!!! So keep liking!!!!

Keep watch on my page for other offers and give aways from time to time....

Happy liking and sharing .......

— at Adelaide - South Australia.

  

Furry friends

Pet paintings are fun to do. It's very challenging  to draw  these  furry members of our family  mainly because of  their fur which takes time to detail and get right. But challenge taken, pencils and patience combined  are  always rewarded in the end with cute pictures to treasure for a long time. 

If you want one for your pets please do drop me a message  here or in my facebook page link on the sidebar of this page. Will ship internationally!

Happy Sunday!!!!

The Versatile IKEA RIBBA Series Frames

        My best friend at the moment is an inanimate object!   Those versatile and very  affordable RIBBA Series frames from IKEA! You see, I  recently  started doing commissioned portraits  and  I am looking  for other ways to frame the artworks.  Usually, pastel paintings are custom framed, sure it looks professional,  but this can be a tad expensive.  Although undeniably, custom framing is still the best way to frame a pastel painting as it can come in multiple mats  and with guttering (to take care of those  loose pastel dusts), a cheaper option must surely exist.

Angel Aquino. Filipina Actress and model. Photo Source from Internet

        So today,  I visited  our local IKEA  supershop  and was gladly overwhelmed with a number of RIBBA frames choices,  both practical and decent looking and of varying colours and sizes.  And to top it all,  these  picture frames are very affordable.  Prices range from AU$ 7.95  for  18cm x 24 cm smallest frame  to the largest frame of  70cm x 100cm at AU$ 39.95. They can even be bought online and seen    here

 

        I have used RIBBA  frames before for some of my paintings and  liked it.  It does the job and is easy to assemble or disassemble.  The only thing I didn’t like about it are those tiny metal fixing pins at the back used to fixed the backing in the frame. They start breaking  off easily after a  number  of disassembly  when attempting to reuse it for another painting or picture. However, with a little resourcefulness  it can easily be fixed so still quite reusable.

        

        So far,  I am happy to be using these frames!




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Update: as of 6/05/2014 found out that the  Ribba frames of  size 50cm x 70cm and larger,  previously with  glass front protection  have been replaced with  ones that uses plastic as front protection. Decided not to use these frame sizes for soft pastel paintings. 

        Please visit my facebook page to see some of my artworks. Likes and shares of my page are huge help!  

    Needing portraits or paintings done? Please enquire and leave a  message on my facebook page:  www.facebook.com/victorinoarts  or email me at vicfbautista@yahoo.com. Will ship internationally!

A Look Back of Paintings from Facebook

       

 This A Look Back movie from  Facebook pretty much sums up the things I have done in the last few years. It does not show  my pictures or selfies as I do not have much, but the paintings I have produced from the outset plus  recent pictures  from my Instagram,  which I recently got into  and have grown quite fond of.  I am hoping that I can  produce more paintings and photos in the near future! 

       

Plugging!

 

Delighted that all four of my entries  (Class 6- soft pastel paintings) have been included in  the 2011  Art Purchase Exhibition of  The Royal Adelaide Show! Not bad for a beginner! Come visit and see a delightful collection of  art and photography by other quality artists!

Place: Goyder Pavilion - Royal Adelaide Showground

Date: Sept 2 - 10

Titles:

1. Australian King Parrot

2. Lake Bridge

3. Seagulls Trio

4. Seagull in the Sand  --- new work

About Soft Pastels

           I have been asked a few times by people about soft pastels as a painting medium. It seems that when people hear about soft pastels a few would immediately get the picture of “Crayola” or “Guitar”, two popular brands of   “crayons” we grew up with which we used in kindergarten for our colouring books. Although, soft pastel is sometimes referred to as crayons, these two types of crayons (the kindergarten and soft pastels) are not the same. Firstly, in simple terms, as defined in Wikepedia, “ a crayon is a stick of colored wax, charcoal, chalk, or other materials used for writing, coloring, drawing, and other methods of illustration.” Therefore, “crayon” is a generic term for any coloured sticks used for drawing.   The kindergarten type is a wax crayon. Oil pastels contain pigment combined with non-drying oil and wax binders.  On the other hand, soft pastels contain ground pigment combined with dry gum binders and chalk. According to Wikepedia, it is the “most widely used form of pastel. The sticks have a higher portion of pigment and less binder, resulting in brighter colors.”

             The way to use a soft pastel is much like how we use a pencil or kindergarten crayons. It is used by rubbing the sticks over an abrasive surface, leaving colour on the grain of the paper, canvas, sandboard or paper.  A few of the popular paper used are the Colorfix, and Mi-teintes, among others. I also use watercolour paper and the result is great.

             Blending soft pastel is easier than with oil pastel or any other medium. All one does is rub or smudge it with a finger. However, as pastels contain chalk as well, smudging results in a fair amount of dust. It is for this “chalky” reason also that soft pastel paintings need to be protected by framing the painting in glass. Some artists like using fixatives to aid in fixing the pastel on the paper.

            Generally, a pastel artwork is called a painting if the entire surface of the paper or canvas is covered in pastel, if it is not, then artists like to call them sketch or drawing.

Cost-wise, a 3-inch (approx.) stick of soft pastel  would  be about $4.00 to $7.00, depending on the brand. Some known brands include Sennelier, Unison, Reeves, Schmincke, and Rembrandt, to name a few. On a rough estimate, there could be a few hundred colour selections available, so collecting each of them could be come to a substantial amount. A significant savings on cost of purchase can be had by buying in sets, but the colour range is much limited, so buying individual sticks is unavoidable.  The better quality pastels cost a lot more, but it is worth investing in them because they really offer a wide range of colour selections and once applied on paper comes out brighter and more vibrant than the cheaper options.

            Soft pastel as an art medium is very popular nowadays as evidenced by the existence of  Pastel Art Societies all over the world. In art shows, there are separate categories dedicated to pastel art, along with other media such as oil, acrylic, etc. People like to collect pastel paintings because of the medium’s inherent bright colours combined with the artist’s artistry. 

Photocredits:  vanessaturner.com and dickblick.com

Plugging

            A few of my works are currently on exhibit at the 2011 Almond Blossom Art Trail in Willunga during the Almond Blossom Festival. Check out and be a part and see works of other artists.

           Place: Willunga Uniting Church, & St. Judes

           Date: 29th of July - 31st of August

Previous Works No. 2 - A Moment of Playfulness and Happiness

           

            This painting of  happy and laughing kids was done very early on when I was just starting to experiment with soft pastels. In the past I have  experimented a little bit with oil pastels but did not develop a liking for it because of the difficulty of blending colours and less vibrant pigments. So when I first got to use soft pastels (and realize that I don't need to wash paint brushes as I do when I use oil paints) and saw how vibrant and bright the colours can be, I was hooked. I knew soft pastels will be one of my preferred media. 

            Doing portraits is both  challenging and fun.  The key is to get  the facial  expression right, and to render and portray the subject in an artist's  own way and ( personally) the portrait not ending up looking like just another photograph  of the subject. This painting shows the general likeness of the subjects, and  the hearty smiles on their cute happy faces. Seeing this  image takes me back to my childhood back in the Philippines, when  having fun meant having a swim in the river,  climbing trees and running around as opposed to today's kids' fascination with video games and technology. Those were the days!

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Many thanks to my good friend Eric Villaroman for letting me use one of his beautiful photographs as basis for this painting. Keep snapping great looking pictures!

A Day Of Having Fun Cooking With Colours And Getting Addicted To Green Tea!

They say cooking is an art. Everyone knows that painting is an art! Therefore,  cooking is similar to painting. Delicious food excites our sense of taste, on the other hand a good painting is a visual delight. Both satisfy our senses in different ways.

Painting is like cooking, except that the ingredients are different. As everyone know, with cooking, the main ingredients are meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, sauces, salt and pepper, herbs and spices, etc. With painting however, the main ingredients are colour, paper, a bit of inspiration, lots of imagination, and believe or not, multiple cups of green tea!

As most of us can cook, does that mean anyone can paint too? I guess so, as long as the interest is there! For those who are interested, read through. If you are not interested, still read through. Ha! Get ready to whip up a nice fun painting. Just follow the recipe. Don’t forget your green tea, though!

Recipe for a day of fun painting:

Usual ingredients: Most of these are found in our drawers, stored and unmoved for months. The others can be bought from your nearest local art supply shops. One item is within you , so just  look hard.

Paper – a piece of anything really (tissue, scrap paper, bond paper, etc). Set aside flat on a surface or table.

Colour – a pinch of anything (watercolour, oil paint, crayons, soft pastel, etc). Apply to taste.

Pencil – the usual pencil you buy from shops maybe, but do sharpen it, no one wants to draw with a dull, unsharpened lead (no one wants to use a dull knife either for cooking,  right?)

Eraser – similar to water in cooking, used for thinning the soup if it gets too thick and   you feel you need a spade to scoop it into your mouth to get a taste. Use the eraser whenever you think the colour has gone too thick, or muddy or just plain wrong or ugly!

Apron - really a necessity so paint don’t get into your nice designer shirt. Also, wearing an apron, also make you think you are cooking, err…painting something special, so give it a go!

2 liters of imagination – Put as much as you can, but also exercise control, unless you are making an out- of –this- world art, which I doubt even exist! Just be true to your sense of beauty, you’ll be on the right track!  Pictures help fire up imagination, so don’t shy away from it, but don’t copy it!

 

Directions for painting: You don’t need oven-fire with this activity, but you do need fire in your belly! (kids don’t take this literally). And also most importantly, coffee or tea. Personally, I prefer green tea!

1. Sit in a  nice, warm spot in your lounge room or studio.

2. Have a sip of your hot green tea!

3. Now, get your paper and tape it on its sides. So it doesn’t move when you start doodling.

4. Have another sip of your hot green tea!

5. Start doodling. Just doodle, something will come up. If you have been staring at it for 4 hours and nothing has come out yet, pull out the pictures and start from there, but then again, don’t COPY it!

 

6. Now that you have managed to draw something, reward yourself. Have another sip of your “now cold” tea. If you like hot tea, make a short trip to the microwave oven and re-heat it. Don’t wander off into the TV room, because you’ll get tempted to watch TV, and you won’t be able to get back to painting! So don’t wander off to the TV room. You have been warned!

7. Apply colour to taste. Stand back once in a while. If you stand back, you’ll get a better look of the painting, and you will see what else you need to do. You will get a feel which areas need to be darker or which ones need highlights. It is like tasting in cooking, you have a little taste of it and right away you know whether your concoction needs a little bit more water, salt, or pepper, etc. 

8. Now, let it simmer for a while! Continue working. Much like in cooking, put your heart in it. Do it with love. Mums always say that food cooked with love tastes a lot better! Have short breaks, though. Chat with your friend, or flat mate about his day.  If you get a blank reaction from him or he looks bored talking to you, save some dignity, excuse yourself and do something else. Don’t be dense, he obviously is not interested in a meaningless chat with you. Instead, have another sip of your hot tea! 

9. Before you know it you have managed to paint a delightful picture! Stand back one last time. Have a look. Take your time. Do the final touches. Don’t forget to sign your painting! It is like announcing to your bored flat mate that you are done cooking and he can now eat your delicious food!

10. Last but not the least! PRESENTATION! PRESENTATION!. Ever wonder why your ordinary dish looks mouth-wateringly delicious on a nice, shiny plate? Well, it is because it is really delicious! Ha ha! Seriously, it would be good if you have got a nice, decent frame to hang your painting with. A painting usually look a lot better with a nice frame. 

Now that everything is finished, remind yourself how  much you enjoyed the activity. Then, finish your day with a hot tea again! Or chocolate, …or ice cream, …or a piece of cake, …or……anything!.

Father and Kids

"Father and Kids", Soft Pastels

Thoughts About Fathers

My father taught me the value of "independence" and "self-reliance"  early on

As a young schoolboy, overwhelmed by a seemingly difficult school task

I came up to him and  asked him to do  my assignment

He gently  uttered, "Do it yourself first and  I will check once you are done."

A father is  his  children's first hero

He walks with his  offsprings and guides them through life

Hoping that they will turn out better than himself,

Able to deal with what life throws at them.

Work In Progress No.1 - Untitled - Update

           I went to an artists' group meet yesterday and was fortunate enough to come in time for a painting demonstration by a seasoned pastel artist. It is fun and very educational to see and observe from a distance  how other artists paint.  The members of the group are lovely and welcoming with new members, so that makes things  easy too. Over hot coffee and sweets during the break, I got to chat with some lovely people I already knew from past workshops. And oh, by the way, did I mention about the raffle ticket  I bought? The price at stake is a beautiful painting by Trevor Newman. Gee, I hope I win!

           Going back to the painting, I spent some more time working on this  and now it is almost 90% complete! Still have to work on the dog, especially. At the moment, it is just a blob  of white pastel shaped like a dog! The sea in the background works just fine. The reflection in the sand looks alright, but probably needs a little more work cleaning it up. The little girl is all done up  and am happy with the result. Really, all this painting need is a bit more  fine tuning. 

          Overall, I like this painting style, it gives the painting a distinctive  dream-like character. Although, not much attention is given to details, the richness of colour lends a different quality to it. The vibrant colours seem to jump out of the page and into the viewer's eyes. Maybe, the bright colours just give it more intensity.

Work in Progress No.1 - Untitled

Adelaide winter has just officially began. The past few days have been rainy and cold and it feels good to  stay home and enjoy  a steaming cup of tea while reading a good book. Unwittingly, I think I have developed a mild case of  addiction  to Nutella over the last few days as a result of  not having a lot to do besides eating (darn!). In between spoonfuls of Nutella,  I managed to sit down and spend a few moments working on this painting. Actually, am enjoying this one because this is typically not how I would do a painting ( I like the more detailed look ). Thus, I find this one a  bit  of a challenge. Typically, I  apply colours thickly and quickly and rub/blend often to get a more softer look. With this one however, I tend to apply colours lightly, sparingly and in layers  and without a lot of blending or rubbing. That is why one can still see a lot of the texture of the base paper.  Personally, I find this method/approach a lot  slower and more disciplined. Anyway, still some more painting sessions left  on this before it's finished! Let's see how it goes!  Happy weekend everyone!

Of Workshops And Such...

I attended a one-day soft-pastel painting workshop last Wednesday taught by Jennifer Hockey, an established artist and a fellow of the Royal Australian Society of Arts, a long standing member of the Adelaide Arts Society and joint founding member of  the Pastel Artists of South Australia (PASA).  Her  works displayed  in her studio are just wonderful pieces, done in her distinct painting style which look more like a harmonious marriage between realism and impressionism. I just love the way she captures light and shade in her works!

At first, we were asked to choose a subject from among several pictures depicting children or people in the beach having a leisurely time. We were then asked to do a composition using these pictures and I ended up with a penciled picture showing a father with his two small children enjoying a leisurely stroll in the sand. My attraction to this particular  subject is the challenge of being able to show their reflection in the wet sand.

It is enriching  to interact with another artist through  comments and feedbacks as I went on  to do my work (e.g. “Don’t use heavy strokes when applying the pastel”, “ Don’t rub yet”, “The man is tooooo fat” *ouch*,  etc). It is just so mind – stretching to work in a style that is different to mine and see the whole painting process from another perspective. It is through these observations that  one learns, and then the processing follows. How that gained knowledge integrates into one’s way of doing things, whether it is to absorb  or to depart partly or completely from it. One has to choose. At the end of the day, the quest is for the development of one’s own unique style.  Internalization of new knowledge eventually leads to artistic maturity.

I have not done much about the exercise since I took it home (see attached picture). It was not to be a homework but it took a long time to do the composition and we didn’t have enough time to finish applying the colours. One of these days, I will get to it and finish. 

New Work - The Lake Bridge

            

           Choosing a painting subject   can be a tedious  task.  Even though the universe has given artists inconceivable number of  potential  subjects, picking one sometimes, can still be a painful process. And for some artists ( who do not mind using photos as reference) photos  are quite handy and convenient. They provide  a convenient vehicle to work with and usually are  a good starting point. For what is a picture but usually a  creative expression in itself , a flat representation  of the artist/photographer’s  creative mind/eyes ( or how he chooses to see the subject)  and the physical subject in front of him. 

           Personally, I do not mind working with pictures. Those are my pictures anyway. My own product. As I snap a lot pictures for future reference, only a handful of them make it to the canvas or paper. In fact, very few, only the ones that I find interesting and unique.

          A photo should have some elements in it that give it character to inspire an artist to turn it into a painting. For example (as shown in the painting), the shape of rocks or how it is arranged to form a stone bridge going off somewhere. No big deal, but somehow it lends character to the picture/painting. Ultimately, photos are great reference, but the artist’s hands and mind give the painting its finished look.

          This painting is of  a Lake in Belair National Park in Adelaide. A less-than-an- hour drive by car from the CBD. Nice to explore in summer. It must be freezing cold there by now. 

"The Lake Bridge" 2011 , Soft pastels on Watercolour paper,   Size 38 cm x 57 cm

          

The Lake Bridge

Calm water blue as the sky

Little waves wiggling like a  lady shy

Little ducks merrily swimming without a cry

Flapping their  little wings attempting to fly

Rocks feel hard on the feet

As they make their way through the heat

Forming into a bridge like a feat

Leading someone into the fairies’ fete

Previous Works No. 1 - Australian King Parrot

           

             Last year, I went on a trip to Melbourne. The trip includes a 13-hour long tour-bus ride into the Great Ocean Road, culminating into the famed “Twelve Apostle” rock formations. There where about more than 10 stops before reaching the final destination. At each stop the group were given ample time  to take photos and enjoy the beauty of nature.

"Little Birdie", Soft Pastel on Watercolour paper, A2 size, Nov. 2010

           One of the more interesting  stops is a Koala sanctuary where we saw a few of them perched on branches and all you can see from below are their butts! Not a cute sight at all even for such cute animals! While here also, a  totally unexpected delight came from the sight of a variety of birds, including the Australian King Parrot (shown in the painting). The group had a grand time snapping pictures and getting up-close and personal with the birds during  the bird-feeding time. They are so tamed and inquisitive, such that if you raise your palm towards them (with some seeds on it, of course) they will swoop down into your open palm and feed, obliviously.  The bird shown in the painting is a female king parrot, shown about ready to jump on a tourist’s outstretched hand to feed.

From My Sketchbook No.1

         The Wikepedia define  sketchbook as "a book or pad with blank pages for sketching, and is frequently used by artists for drawing or painting as part of their creative process." Recently, I have turned to sketchbooks to document ideas and I find it quite handy. I scribble ideas down in the sketchbook  so I would have a record of what I have in mind, as ideas can come in  a snap  and gone as fast as one can say "hello".  In it could just be pencil sketches, usually very rough ones, a hard copy of  my mental process. A sketchbook therefore,  is largely  like a record of an artist's  internal journey as he develops compositional ideas into final painting. 

          Once in a while I will be posting some sketchbook paintings/sketches here. It could be just a glimpse of a process or the  final painting itself. Anyways, hopefully you have fun viewing these! 

          Belated Happy Easter to everyone!

 

"Looking Back", Soft Pastel on sketchbook, A4 size

                                                                             Quick! Look Back!

        Most of the time we move forward

      But sometimes, we need to look backward

          In order to know where to go towards...

A Pot of Morning Dewdrops

"A Pot Of Morning Dewdrops", Soft Pastels in Mi-Teintes Paper, 10.5 x 15 cm

A Pot of Morning Dewdrops

An earthen pot exploding with color

A glimpse of which reminds us of the "Great Creator"

Globules of morning dewdrops to take away rancor

And sets the day with calm and valor