Latest portrait in oil

As well as photography I also paint a bit in my spare time, and have joined a local group. This is only 2 hours a week so I read and practice as much as I can- other than tutorage I currently find this the best way to improve.

Below is a portrait I've been working on over the last week and shows the first stage (simple line drawing and block-in) and then the nearly-finished painting. The subject was taken from a photoshoot I did a while back, although I deliberately changed the model's features slightly. More will appear here as I improve; as well as more portraits I want to try some landscapes soon.

I've now been painting about 4 or 5 months, does anyone have any tips on how I can improve? I've been studying the works of Richard Schmid, Nelson Shanks, David Leffel..all fantastic contemporary artists - One day I hope to have a tenth of their talent!

Mark the Photographer

Thought it was about time I told a little bit about myself! Ok, where to start?

I'm Mark, I'm currently 40 years old (although I'm told I look younger :) ) and I have a day job. In my spare time I like to play Mark the photographer, so I often book beauty and modelling shoots through networking site or stylish friends who want to pose. I prefer to shoot location portraits as I don't have a studio, although hopefully that will change in the not-too-distant future! Fashion and beauty photoshoots can be done with minimal equipment e.g. flash and reflectors, although the best results can often be gained in a studio-For this reason I currently hire a studio until I can get the space and lighting equipment.

I'm self taught, although I did study photography at school all those years ago, with an Olympus.. I think. My dream camera back then was an Olympus OM10Ti, so I might indulge one day. Nowadays I want a Leica and a medium format camera..but digital is fine at the moment. i use a Nikon D3 digital camera, with an older D2H as backup. It's a superb camera with great low-light capability and image quality. I have three prime lenses, a medium zoom and a 70-200mm fixed f/2.8 zoom, which is heavy. Of course, I want more! Got my eye on the new Nikon primes- 24 and 84mm, plus a 200 f/2 and maybe a tilt-shift. I'd probably also like a 14-24 as I like to shoot landscapes when I get time to relax.

Other hobbies include reading photography tutorials and getting inspiration from fashion photographers' websites..no names though! I oil painting when I can, and have started visiting London galleries (see earlier blog posts). I have also started a whiskey collection..I used to hate whiskey but now I love all the different interesting flavours.. especially those from Islay and Speyside. Must be my age ;) 

Well that's enough for now, keep an eye out for the second part. Hope you found it interesting, why not let me know by adding a comment?

Famous faces

Just for fun, and also to give me some inspiration for painting, I've been trying to compile a list of great faces. By this I mean people I'd love to photograph or paint, if ever they happened to need another portrait :)

They don't have to be famous, but so far everyone is (As I'm now 40, some might be unfamilar to younger readers). I have the following list to date:

Sir Ian McKellen (I am currently painting him from a photograph)

Ciaran Hinds

Clive Owen (Uncannily like a younger Ciaran Hinds)

Paul Newman

Tilda Swinton

Cate Blanchett

Tom Hanks

Angelina Jolie (who wouldn't?)

I also found some great 'unknown' faces by searching including a homeless man who could have lived centuries ago and a girl who could easily become a model, discovered by a street photographer in Singapore.

As a portrait and model photographer I hope this exercise will help me to study poses and the way light affects mood, and it may also give me some interesting subject matter for my oil painting. Here's my takes on Thierry Henry and Sir Ian McKellen, both as yet unfinished.. I hope they look like the real thing!

Finding Inspiration for photography.. and painting

I've been spending quite a bit of time recently at the National Gallery, hoping to find inspiration both for my photography and also for subject matter to paint (a hobby I've recently started). Looking at works by painters such as Caravaggio and Turner is useful for seeing how light affects figures and landscapes- Caravaggio's use of tenebrism (using chiaroscuro or light-dark) is extensive in photography today, and Turner, together with Constable among others, was adept at capturing the effect of light on the earth. So far I've only made three attempts at painting, but once I'm better I'll show some work on this site. Next I'm planning to visit the National Portrait Gallery to gain a better idea of how to paint faces, before I try my hand at a live sitting..