the Artist as LISA LEE

Twas last week that I’ve officially begun my crack at oil painting after many years hiatus from that medium.  I’ve had my struggles with that stuff, especially when it comes to portraits.  It’s true I cannot be master of everything ( though deep in my unconscious I arrogantly believe I must ) but I do want to cast aside that fear I get from doing portrait paintings and any subsequent figure paintings with oil in the near future.  In addition I need a breather from all the other crazy outsider stuff I’ve been working on the past two years and kind of take a detour into the o so glorious traditional art road.

For my first project I chose to do two portraits from photos of my nieces, Harper and Maddie.  The instructor here was very helpful; unlike the past instructors who demanded I follow their methods he was very liberal about my chosen style and methods and occasionally gave some pointers on trouble spots.  I’m pushing for a loose Van Gogh-y style here, not a big fan of overly detailed hyper realism.

And this was my progress week 2:

To be continued til the paint dries…