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| Robby Colwell Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island |
There was a time when I was a bit of an uppity watercolour-purist, but since the menopause altered my body and mind I feel surprisingly liberated from the expectations and conformity I was formerly beholden to. With this series I will make use of whatever medium my inner prodding feels will carry forward the emotive impression my human subject makes upon me. I'm thinking, for continuity, I will be placing my human subjects (virtually or in real time) on the balcony outside my studio, where the view looking out over the bay with the East Bluff, big sky and North Channel present a most marvellous backdrop for intriguing characters. So, let's play!
Today I am going to share the portrait studies I did of Robby Colwell - the manager of the Gore Bay Airport and a generous friend.
Robby is a natty dresser, a bit of a dandy with a definite soft spot for well made footwear and on occasion will swap out his Gore Bay Flying Club baseball cap for a wool Stormy Kromer cap. One afternoon in late October, Robby stopped by the studio for a visit, looking quite dapper in a dense wool jacket and his Stormy Kromer. With the air so crisp and clear and the sky over the lake looking strong and majestic, I asked Robby if he would be willing to let me take some photos of him as reference material for a potential painting. He agreed and was quick to assume a number of poses - each one providing me with visual data to assist my memory when I eventually set to work on creating a portrait in the studio.
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| Robby Colwell on the balcony outside The Ravenseyrie Studio & Art Gallery |
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| Robby Colwell - Gore Bay |
If I continue to feel such interest in creating portraits of humans I am thinking it would be useful to train myself to sketch and paint from a live model. But for now, with my inadequate confidence, I am more comfortable working from photos.
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| Robby Colwell - Gore Bay |
The first renderings I made of Robby I did in my sketchbook using Chinese ink in my refillable brush pen. I love this brush pen for the most part, however it is unforgiving and magnifies my insecurities by bleeding deeply into the paper when my hand indecisively lingers too long. A bit of titanium white casein paint helped me cover up errors enough to determine what was useful in the sketch and what showed definite need for improvement in future studies.
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| Ink wash sketch of Robby Colwell by Lynne Gerard |
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| Ink wash sketch of Robby Colwell by Lynne Gerard |
Of the two ink wash sketches I liked the way the full faced pose turned out the best, but the side view pose of Robby actually interests me more because the hat shows better and we get to see his very charming curly grey tresses. These ink wash sketches helped me determine which features of Robby I felt most compelled to portray and the practice assisted me in gaining a little understanding of how best to navigate my way around the territory of Robby's face.
My next sketching practice of Robby I decided to use charcoal on a full sheet of Neenah Classic Crest ivory paper (26 in x 40 in). The charcoal I most enjoy using is made by my husband. Kevin gathers cedar and willow twigs from our East Bluff landscape and "cooks" them in our little Jotul wood stove. It is not just the sentimental value these homemade charcoal sticks have that makes me choose to use them, but I also appreciate how well they perform.
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| Robby Colwell - Gore Bay |
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| Robby Colwell - Gore Bay |
I changed my reference photo from colour to black and white to assist me in better understanding the light and dark regions. I worked standing up at my easel. When working in charcoal, I like to lay down just a few quick, loose lines and trust that they are accurately placed (most times they are not!). After making whatever corrections are necessary, I begin blocking in larger areas and creating tonal values, smearing with my fingers as needed to soften and tease out gradients.
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| Preliminary contour lines in charcoal |
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| Building up the details in charcoal |
It was at this point that I realized I had too much space between the eye and ear - how did I not see this back when the first lines were laid down? Sheesh! Thanks to the high quality of the paper and the attributes of Kevin's charcoal sticks, a trusty wad of kneaded rubber eraser allowed me to remedy the gaffe.
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| He Wears it Well - The Stormy Kromer Charcoal study of Robert J. Colwell by Lynne Gerard |
