Category Archives: Portrait Oil Paintings by Winifred

Girl in Repose

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If it weren’t for the fact that the pain is no longer felt once the portrait is “finished”, I would cease to paint them. A really excellent portrait painter, now with 20 years of experience said that he is still waiting for portrait painting to become easier. Even as ones skill grow, brush handling becomes more competent, drawings can be done more quickly – it’s still so very very hard. It’s painful – honest. I know I shouldn’t complain and it’s boring you for me to do so – so I’ll stop. There are painters who paint portraits who have no concern for about obtaining “portrait likeness” and unless one is doing a portrait commission there is actually no reason for such concern. So far, I’ve never been able to lack that concern. I always feel it’s a measure of my competency to obtain a likeness of the person being painted. I may try to get over that and seek to create portrait as art – which would be a completely different mindset. At this point I don’t know what that would look like for me. I can think of other artist work, however, which gives me clues as to what it was for them – Modigliani for example. Below is a type of portrait I never tried before – “a smiling face”.

Mexican Lady Smiling – 8×10 Oil Painting Head Study by Winifred Whitfield

I have no idea. why I created this painting. It didn’t begin with a smile for sure. I painted her mouth closed in my initial attempt but it just didn’t look right. I was in Mexico when I saw this lady at a big market place. She nodded and gave me permission to photograph her. She was a very friendly type person and anytime I saw her she had a big smile on her face. There is something I am drawn to in portraiture, more so than any other subject in painting. I paint an occasional still life of fruit or flowers and and though still not easy, I can alter the look of the flowers and fruit and it’s probably for the better. I think I’m a painter because it is so hard. If it were easy, no doubt I would have quite long time ago. It’s very challenging but when I stick with a painting, in the end there is a sense of accomplishment and transformation and I feel proud. That’s why I keep 85% of my paintings. They’re framed on my walls. I’m surrounded by them and I enjoy them very much. There is only one room which has been spared – my bedroom. I want to awake to blank walls and the possibility of what’s coming next, I have no need to see what I have accomplished already.

Garden Life: It’s kind of sad to call what I have a garden. I should probably label it as container life – but I won’t. Below is a screenshot I captured from the internet, advertising the seeds. I have no relationship to this image.

Common Name: Love Lies Bleeding – Screen shot from Internet

Below is an example the new “Love Lies Bleeding” plants I have started. I’ll just stick with the common name “Love Lies Bleeding” I use to have lots of this plant in my garden which I always grew from seed. It’s quite dramatic as you can see. If I had started my seeds earlier in the season, I would have plants now which resemble the example above. Instead, my plant development can be seen below. I think there is still hope for a beautiful flowering plant before summers end.

My “Love Lies Bleeding:

I have 7 containers of this plant. Most are now located between by Geranium planters. They are not quite as large as this one. This is the largest because it’s seedlings were never transplanted. However, the plants in all seven containers are all growing really fast now, so hopefully I’ll have some flowering soon. Those long red flowers you see are actually long pods of seeds – a grain which can be harvested. I will never have to purchase seeds again and I’ll definitely get them started earlier next year. The little plant you see to the lower right of the blue pot is “Rainbow Chard”. I was even later in planting those seeds. I was hopeful I could find a 6 pack of plant starts as I have done in the past but I couldn’t find any. Rather than give up, I ordered seeds and got them started.

The RESISTANCE: My Home Owners Association told me last week that I had to remove my signs – the signs I showed you. Flags are allowed but not signs. It’s in the bylaws – though signs have been permitted before. I had a Black Lives Sign on my front balcony and in my container garden area for months a few years back, others did too – but not this sign this time. So, I took it down and immediately ordered to 12×18 flags, that say RESIST and continue to have the same size American flag on either side of them.

I’m happy to see a growing number of people’s unfavorable response to the horrendously cruel deportations and cages for detainees. It’s all racism. This administration prioritizes policies which support a white America run by white cis gendered males with subjugated females having babies to offset the browns and Blacks he can’t get rid of. Donald’s’ unfavorability declines, but he doesn’t care at all. He’s not running again but he plans to remain in power. Something which concerns me greatly are statements he and others have made that “there won’t ever be another presidential election”. “Just vote for me this time and you’ll never have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed. Just vote for me this time.” he told the Evangelicals. Given his defiance of the courts, the support of the Supreme Court in his enhanced executive power, which includes his ability to call out the National Guard and military as enforcement anytime he deems it necessary, I have no doubt about Donald’s plans to abolish Americas attempt at Constitutional government. In practice, we no longer have a functional House and Senate even at this time – except to do the bidding of the president. The only glimmer of hope is to have a Democratic sweep of the midterms and a successful impeachment to get him out of office. No doubt every conceivable trick will be attempted to prevent that from happening. The Republican party leadership is lawless and we have no checks against this while they continue to govern.

Unfortunately, Democratic lawmakers are only willing to do “the right thing” the right way. Remember when Michelle said “when they go low, we go high”. That is obviously not going to work. All is so sad! Resist in anyway you can. Winifred

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WW Haitian Girl Winifred Whitfield Still life WW Red Tree WW Fall Maple WW mom-child WW Portrait S ww-portrait-A

Repetition

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Alex Version 3

I didn’t work on a new image this week. I worked on two previous ones – even one from last week. There have been 2 new versions since last weeks posting. I have never, well maybe twice, in all my years of painting portraits, where I didn’t make substantial changes to the portrait painting after I posted it. There is a reason for this. Throughout the painting process, I regularly take quick breaks, leaving my studio even if only for 2 minutes, to return for a fresh look.

Version 2

If one works on any area of a painting for a long time, you stop seeing it “truthfully”, I will call it.You start to see color out of context and color can only be appropriately viewed in the context in which it exist. It is not absolute. We start to judge lights, mid tones and shadow tones inappropriately. Shadows start to be perceived lighter and lighter tones come to be perceived darker. taking a break, allowing eyes to readjust is essential. Sometimes I flip the painting, the reference or both upside down. You’d be amazed what a positive difference this makes in seeing the shapes we paint accurately. When I walk back in my studio. I am sometimes shocked at what I see. I make substantial adjustments through the hours of work. A point comes when I think I have made all required changes and corrections. Normally, that occurs before I post. And so I post. Usually, that night or the following day I take a look at the image again. I never fail to be oh so disappointed. I see so much that is still so “wrong” and unacceptable. Where was this “wrong” the previous time I looked but I couldn’t see it – didn’t see it. One can go through this again and again. I often do. Below was my first version – the first of my post.

Version 1

The saving grace is that many wise master painters, past and present say that it is more important to paint many paintings in a given period of time than to work on one painting during the same time period attempting to get it” “perfect”. Of course, if you are doing client work – best aim for the perfection. Through the process of these three versions of this painting, I progressed from more sketchy to more finished and focused on more accurately shaping the light. The lighting for the reference was one directional window light which flowed across the face from left to right. I was recently reminded that light doesn’t skip over an eyebrow or a beard or a nose or lips, it flows seamlessly across every feature. So by version 3, I attempted to carefully reflect the flow of light accurately which is primarily the difference between 3 painting versions. Also in the image immediately above, the left cheek bone and the shape of the nose is just wrong. For that reason, I replaced the first version within a couple of hours of posting it. Not many people saw it.

Below: I also repainted this young lady with curls. You may remember the curls. That in itself was not the problem – overall the painting just was not making me happy. After many months – I I put it back on my easel.

Cinnamon Curls Oil Painting 11×14 by Winifred Whitfield

Hair, background, face, everything was re-painted. Below is a more recent version.

Cinnamon Version 2

I enjoy the above version of the painting much more. I think I would prefer just a little more detail or separation on the left side of her hair/background. Time will tell. These re paintings were my work this week. the next painting will be a new one and I’m. sure will take a couple weeks. It’s more complicated than usual.

Garden News: I wanted to find Swiss Chard seedlings this past spring but I couldn’t – not sure why. Finally I started from seed. I really like “Rainbow Chard”. It’s so versatile. Chard has a very long season, plants will probably develop. I’m also growing “Love Lies Bleeding”, not to eat but just for the showy vegetation/flowers it produces. I haven’t had that plant for such a long time. Again, I’m late, so we’ll see. My compost pile has grown larger and otherwise it is doing what compost piles do and there are many many worms!

The Resistance: There is a word in the dictionary I was unaware of. It’s very appropriate.The word is TRUMPERY. The definition is – It looks good, it’s showy but it’s worthless. To use this word in a sentence one might say …The legislation might be good for some but for others it’s TRUMPERY. This country has reached it’s lowest since slavery. Sad! RESIST!! Winifred

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