Angels in Mosaic

I'm giving a workshop in the portrait sketch tomorrow at Kennedy Art.
It's always a great day of painting and good craic.
My next one is on the 17th October.

And on Sunday I'm off to Spilimbergo again to see how the team at Travianutto are getting on with the Knock Bascilica mosaic.
Here's how some of the Angels were looking on my last visit.
I know they have been working very hard on this project so there will be a lot more mosaic for me to see.

A Great Portraiture Workshop

There was a great atmosphere at my workshop on Saturday.

Our model, Michael, has a very characterful face and very striking colouring. 

He brought out the best in all of the artists there on the day.

My next portrait workshop at Kennedy Art will be on the 4th of July, but I am doing one at the lovely Corn Loft Centre in Wexford before that on 20th June.
I look forward to painting with some of you soon.

Upcoming Portraiture Workshops

I'm looking forward to a great workshop at Kennedy Art this Saturday.

That one is booked out, but if you want to come along to my next workshop at the Back Loft on the 25th April, please click on this link

The Gord & Jay Talk Art Podcast

It's great to get really positive feedback from my workshop attendees, and here, Jay, who attended my last workshop, talks in his podcast about some very concrete benefits that he felt he gained from my class. The relevant piece begins at 42 minutes into the podcast entitled "Discipline", but the whole thing is really interesting. Many thanks Jay.
https://itunes.apple.com/…/the-gord-jay-talk-a…/id929963389…
I'm looking forward to a workshop at Kennedy Art on Saturday.

 Here's my demo of Des from a few weeks back.

A Portrait with Dramatic Lighting

I was delighted to be able to spend three hours working on this portrait of Tony. We had a nicely dramatic low light source and Tony held his pose wonderfully.

The Finished Painting

Even as I was painting, though, I knew I hadn't gone dark enough with the left side of the face. 

When this happens, I tend to paint away to a finish from the model (second last picture above) and then a couple of days later add a dark glaze over the area where the darker tone should have been. 

Here I used liquin tinted with burnt umber and alizarin crimson. The good thing about this process is that it saves all the modulation in the initial painting but just darkens the area by a few degrees giving the painting a much more palbable sense of drama.

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At Great Workshop with Giuseppe in a Peaked Cap

It's always a fun workshop at Kennedy Art when Giuseppe is the model.

Here are a few images from the day.

A Portrait Sketch of Martin

Here's my 40 minute demo from a recent workshop at Kennedy Art.
Martin, the model, always likes a challenging pose and he held this difficult twisty one really well throughout the day.

Contact Kennedy's for more details re my workshops.

Tel: +353 1 475 1749
Fax: +353 1 478 2022
Email: info[at]kennedyart.com

Culture Night at the United Arts Club

A team of quick-on-the-draw United Arts Club regulars will be in action this Culture Night for a "Portrait Drawing - Face Off".
Grab a glass of wine and watch the group drawing some of the UAC’s best known characters live!

I will be one of the artists along with my pals Brian Gallagher, David Hayes, Comghall Casey, Michael Mc Williams and John O Flynn.
I'll be there from about 6.30pm.

Friday September 19th
The United Arts Club
3 Upper Fitzwilliam Street
Dublin 2

Latest Portrait Sketch Workshops

After "Draw In" I'm very much looking forward to keeping up the momentum on Saturday at my portrait workshop at Kennedy Art. 
Aíne will be the model. Here's a study I did of her a while back.
It's unfinished because of changing light but I think it's all the better for that.

Saturday's workshop, and the one in October are both booked up and with waiting lists for cancellations, but we have just set the 1st November for the next workshop after that.
I hope to see some of you then.
PJ

KennedyArt
12 Harcourt St
Dublin 2
ph 353 (1) 475 1749

Naked Portrait of Darren: Process Pix

Some process pix of a life painting I did of Darren.
The technique I use at my workshops is a simplified version of this.

 My portrait sketch workshop in September at Kennedy Art has been set for Saturday the 6th.
I look forward to seeing some of you then.
info@kennedyart.com
ph + 353 (1) 475 1749

Another Great Workshop

We had another lovely workshop painting the portrait sketch at Kennedy Art on Saturday. Brian was a great model, and everyone worked hard, had fun and got great results.

My demo painting is at the bottom.