Sophia, 20"x16", oil on linen

I partially toned the canvas with a mixture of transparent oxide red and viridian diluted with paint thinner and let it run freely. Because I used a canvas with rough surface, I had to thin the mixture with much more paint thinner than I usually use. I used this loose appearance as a background and built the structure of Sophia's head on top of it.

Tina, 20"x16", oil on linen

Tina Engels is a drawing instructor at the Academy.
A larger-than-usual number of students turned out for the opportunity to paint their teacher.

For this painting, instead of toning the canvas with a neutral tone as I would generally do to start the painting, I chose to use the stark white of the canvas as it was. I wanted the deep dark of her hair and clothes to show a strong contrast in the finished painting.

In the actual setup, she was surrounded by a brilliant blue background, but I decided to keep the intensity of the blue to a minimum in favor of a darker tone that would tie in with her dark hair and black turtleneck.

When she went back up on the stage after the final break, she was a bit confused as to how her black-and-white-striped scarf had been wrapped over her hair before, so she simply let her long hair flow in front of her scarf for the final 25 minutes. I liked this setup better for the long movement her hair created, so I used it to anchor her hair to the bottom of the canvas and created an entry point to her face.