Natalie, 18"x14" oil on canvas

I started this painting with a watercolor-like wash of green, just enough to suggest the background color. Because of the massive and free-flowing hair that hid much of the contour of her head, I decided the painting was best approached with a mass block-in rather than a precise line drawing. So, first, I laid down the large shape of her dark hair, then I moved on with other large shapes of light and dark.

The painting seems to reflect her expression of awkwardness from posing for the first time in front of an attentive crowd of painters.

Tom Herzberg teaches illustration and watercolor classes, and sits on a Chair for the fine arts department.


I set the blue drapery before Tom arrived in the classroom. When I saw him walking into the classroom in his blue jean shirt, I thought about changing the drapery to a different color. But with the warm pre-tone of the canvas,
I thought it might be interesting to have the similar colors on the background and in his shirt. Also, I liked the accentuated contrast between the cool red on his face and the surrounding blue.


As soon as the pose was set, Tom tilted his head slightly to his right. In the beginning, I asked him to bring his head back to straight position, but he kept sliding back to the previous position. Soon I realized that it actually presented a more interesting look of engagement rather than a posed appearance. So I just painted the way his head was tilted.



The biggest challenge in painting Tom turned out to be, as I mildly expected, for the group not to be drawn into his constant chatter. (The man wouldn't shut up!)
We will have to do something about that next time he poses for the group. I don't know how, but I managed to bring out some degree of a serious appearance in the painting.

Tom, 20"x16" oil on linen