And… Back to Portraits!

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©2020, Emma Pittson, “Vintage Ariel”. Photoshop.

On a whim, I decided last week to crack open one of my many vintage magazines and see if I could reproduce an image. I am beyond amazed that I actually managed to 1) finish something, and 2) find that I’m happy with the result, especially considering how flat and grainy the original image was! I especially wanted to throw in the towel once I got to rendering the hair (never my strong suit). Let’s hear it for perseverence!

To me, this portrait is a direct result of all the practice, practice, practice that began with the portrait studies of the “30 Paintings in 30 Days” challenge. Even though the reference image had matte colours and little light information, I had completed enough portraits over the last few years to be able to fill in the blanks. There’s no way I would have been able to do this without having put myself through that “boot camp”!

Morning on the Saguenay

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©2019, Emma Pittson, “Morning on the Saguenay”. Photoshop.

We had a stellar view from our Huttopia campsite at the Baie Ste-Marguerite sector of Parc Nationale du Saguenay. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the bay is subject to low tide on a daily basis and essentially turns into a large sandbar during most daylight hours. Great for exploring, but… not the swimming hole we were expecting.

Still, early mornings and evenings were spectacular. Believe it or not, there was even a heron posed in the long grass (for real!), but I didn’t include it in the painting because I thought it would end up looking fake.

Something different

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Ever feel the need to try something different? My first love will always be portraits, with landscapes coming up a close second, but I admit that I also have a soft spot for geometric abstract paintings. This is something I only came around to later in life (and I’m sure that my teenage self would be horrified by that fact if they could see into the future, but what did she know, anyways?). As I stare down the barrel of a another seven months of Montreal winter – and a socially-distanced one, to boot! – I see no reason why I can’t stretch the old artistic muscles in new, unfamiliar directions.

Don’t let the brush marks fool you – this is all digital! ArtRage is an inexpensive software that does the best job, in my opinion, of imitating real paint strokes, and while my husband and I are still working from home (and I am consigned to the diningroom while he takes over the office/studio), digital will continue to be the way to go for me.

Hard-edged abstraction might not be your cup of tea, but even so, I urge you to check out the work of Carmen Herrera, a Cuban abstract painter who only ever received recognition for her work when she was well into her 90’s (she’s currently 105 years young, and still going strong)! I love her work the more minimalist it gets. The fact that she kept at it regardless of whether or not the official gatekeepers took notice of her is truly inspirational!

Making our way in the dark

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Night Drive, Photoshop, 2020.

Almost six months into this crazy alternate reality that is Life in Lockdown, doesn’t it feel like we’re all driving down a lonely highway in the middle of the night? We know that we’ll eventually end up at our destination (safe and sound, hopefully), but until then, while we’re still in transit… it can all seem a little frightening. Stay safe, everyone!

Portrait of Yola

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©2020, Emma Pittson, “Portrait of Yola”. Photoshop.

The time has come to set aside landscapes and dive back into portraiture!

And wouldn’t you know it?  I got so used to landscapes that I found this portrait to be a bit more of a challenge than I had anticipated.  This image represents a few days of work, at least!  Of course, I walked into it thinking “I’ll just keep it fresh, and loose, and, you know… painterly” and, well, THAT went out the window pretty quickly.  I think it’s a leftover reaction to my art school days when we never had enough time to finish anything, and even if we did, we were always discouraged from painting anything that looked too realistic (“skillful”, some might say).  With no teachers or peers around me, I can noodle to my heart’s content – and so I do!

Anyways, this is Yola, a model with a Russian modelling agency called Lumpen.  Their entire roster is comprised of Real People, which I think is very cool.