Puccini

Puccini oil 7x11

It's been tough to try to get back in the habit of painting daily, impossible due to other work, really, and what little I have been able to accomplish has been mixed in with workouts and other menial tasks, not allowing for a big chunk of focus.  Above is one of those sketches done with a limited pallet of cadmium red light, raw Sienna, ivory black and flake white.  I find that the flake white replacement I use now in portraits lends itself to better blending and doesn't cool the paint down as much as Titanium white does.  But the raw sienna isn't as satisying for skin colors as is yellow ochre or gold ochre, so I will probably not use it much again.

I've been less satisfied with recent landscape sketches, and I really believe they will require more time and focus than I have been able to give them.