A Beautiful Face “Grisaille study in oil”

I wanted to do a quick study just to test out a few things I am working toward. Here is a 30 to 40 minute quick block in I did then smoothed out with a quick blend. I was shooting for likeness and just what I could do in a short period of time.

For a 30 to 40 minute grisaille, I am quite pleased, though I see a lot of room for refinement which I would do if this was more than just a quick study. A little more refinement then I would let the paint dry then come back and lay in a nice layer of liquin, then I would let that dry over night then begin to glaze in color layers.

Well anyway, I have a few more studies I am working on over the next few days I will try and get them posted. Oh, please excuse the can I painted to the left, it was just a warm up nothing more.

Oil Study A Layered approach

Just wanted to take a break from drawing and get my paints out. Here is a quick oil study. It is on a simple canvas pad. Step 1, I first toned the pad with a thin tonal wash of Ivory Black thinned with turp. Then after it dried which took just a few minutes I proceeded to draw my partial face with a cap on. For the drawing I used Ivory Black thinned with liquin.

Step 2, after drying over night, I glazed in some color. The color I used was Cad Red Light again thinned with liquin then glazed in the flesh area. After I had the flesh glazed in I glazed the stocking cap with Ultramarine Deep thinned with liquin. Step 3, I let it dry then glazed the colors again as I did in step 2. Then added a background just to bring out the colors more.

Truthfully, at this point it is ready for additional opaque layers to be added. But, then this is not a serious piece just a study of which I was testing an idea I have. Anyway, I hope you like it. P.S. I like the intensity of the eye.

Mark Branscum

La Soif or Thirst Update

Latest Update. I feel I have the pitcher done or at least very close, there still may be a few tweaks yet but I am getting close to being satisfied. I should be able to move along a little quicker now.

La Soif or Thirst Update

La Soif by William Bouguereau

I just wanted to give an update to show where I am. I have many hours invested in this drawing so far. A fare estimate would be around 35 to 40 hours … I will tally them up to give a more accurate time line. Just the same, I am starting to see the end in sight which is good because I am anxious to start on a few other ideas I am kicking around.

I am working on some preliminary sketches for a few paintings as well as more drawings. In between all of this I am trying to make this website happen!

I will be posting more of the step by steps up here soon but I am wanting to get nearer being completed with it that way I will only need to show one set of steps.

More to come!

Mark Branscum

Thirst or La Soif

La Soif or Thirst 7 x 9 1/2 inches

This is another of my favorites that William Bouguereau created. He painted this piece in 1886. This is still a work in progress. I will post steps of the progress as well as a video showing the progress soon.

As I work on each piece I find myself looking forward to the next as they have been such a joy to do. I have been working diligently on my pencil skills over the last year as well as my paintings. Mostly focusing on capturing a likeness. It has been a difficult journey, but, one I have found very rewarding.

There is a place when you begin to see almost from drawing to drawing your improvement. In fact, I feel the whole process I am experiencing is simply “learning to see”.

I have heard other artist use this phrase only to feel somehow like I was missing just what they were trying to convey to me. But it is just that, learning to see. Seeing, by no means have I mastered it, but, at least I am aware of its importance and thus I am getting much better at it. In fact, I can see improvement from drawing to drawing.

I have also learned that the minds eye is a deceiver, it will convince you something is right about a drawing when in fact upon closer examination you will find proportions out of place.

I do not feel I have come to an end of this journey .. the process of seeing, I am only beginning to understand it. But, then this is what we artist are striving to do. To understand, be disciplined, to master!

Well, I hope you enjoy this piece there will be more to come!

Mark Branscum after William Bouguereau

ACEO’S

ACEO’S “Art Card Editions and Originals” I wanted to give a sneek peek at what is coming in that department. I am working on small ACEO’s in pencil and here is just a few of them. They will consist of various themes, such as Rodeo, Figurative, Wild Life and such like.

Well you can see by the variety I am showing here what I mean. Each of these pieces on average took 5 to as much as 8 hours to complete. They are only 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches and thus were a challenge to work on but a lot of fun too.

More are coming as soon as I get the photos taken. We are presently working acquiring images from events such as Rodeos, Civil War reenactments, mountain man and Indian reenactment, and such like, also we are taking pictures of models dressed in various old fashion costume.

Much to come.

We will have some links to videos that will be showing on youtube soon, they are being worked on right now and will soon be featured here.

Of course each ACEO will be marketed here and on ebay soon. We are trying to put enough work together to have a decent show.

Among the ACEO’s, Miniature Masters Series, we are also working on original Oil and Pencil Art. We are presently preparing for a show, and as I work on each piece I will try and post its progress here.

Here are a few examples of what we are presently working on.

The Difficult Lesson

The Difficult Lesson 6 1/4 x 10 inches

Just a quick note in case you dont already know this, but, if you click on the image you can see it much larger for best detail.

This is number one of the Miniature Masters Series and it was originally created by one of my favorite masters of classical realism, William Bouguereau.

Bouguereau was a French Academic Classical painter, draftsman & teacher and in my humble opinion one of the greatest painters ever but then I do concede that this is simply my opinion. Just the same, he is one of my favorites. I also love Sargent, and Waterhouse just to name a few.

For months now I have had this idea of drawing miniature masters ….. thus the name Miniature Masters Series. I will and have already been working on plans to do reproductions of the works in oil, but found the idea of doing them in pencil such a wonderful challenge and so far I was right about that.

Below is the step by step progress of each stage as it unfolds. Click on it of course and you will see a much larger detail of it. In this image I was unable to post every stage that I captured but will try my best to get all the stages in on the next piece.

I apologize if the image size is a bit large as I am sure it will be murder on slower dial up connections. But I felt it important in order to see the detail.

Introducing the Miniature Masters Series

The Difficult Lesson Introduction

This is the first of many to come of what I am calling my “Miniature Masters Series”.

This series of pieces will all be done in pencil and will be works centered around the Masters such as, W. Bouguereau, Sargent, Waterhouse and such like. Among these masters is one of my favorites which I decided to begin this series with.

The original work was a beautiful painting created by William Bouguereau and is among my favorite paintings of His. It is hard to narrow down his works to one specific painting as they are all so beautifully done. This one was titled “La lecon difficile” or “The difficult Lesson”. It was a pleasure to draw.

Anyway, the idea of the Miniature Masters Series has be bouncing around in the back of my mind for some time until I just had to do more than just think about it. So here is the beginning of what will be many to come.

I will be offering limited edition prints of each of these works.

I also will be showing progress images of each work as they come along. Sort of a step by step or a walk through of each stage as it unfolds. I will be doing this because I want to give back to the art community by providing insight to how a piece like this comes together.

On average I will spend from 50 to 150 hours on a drawing the size of the pieces represented in the Miniature Master Series. This can represent several weeks for a work to be completed. However, the result is very rewarding though the process can at times be very tedious.

I will follow up this post soon with a larger image of the work along with step by steps, so, until then I hope you will enjoy and watch as this site unfolds.

Mark Branscum