Last night, Mick Moloney led an all-star group of Irish musicians in a late-night concert at a pub in East Durham, New York.
The concert was all acoustic and included traditional instrumental tunes, songs and step dancing.
Mick is a storyteller, tour leader, professor, and folklorist with a special focus on songs about the Irish immigrant experience in America. As a professional musician, Mick plays the banjo and mandolin. He leads the Green Fields of America and has been one of the cherished leaders of the traditional music revival.
There was a single light on the wall above Mick, and the rest of the room was quite dark. I waited for him to return momentarily to his pose, immersed in song. I used three colors of gouache (flame red, yellow ochre, peacock blue, and white). I held the sketchbook in my lap in very dim light, making it possible to estimate tonal values, but difficult to guess at the chroma or hue.
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The Catskill Irish Arts Week concludes tonight
6 comments:
Excellent work as always, Jim, especially given the lighting conditions.
That's amazing.
Great portrait of a truly great man!
As usual, excellent light rendering.
Do you have any tips on painting a sufficiently realistic portrait using gouache opaquely?
I dont' have particular problems with watercolour, light gouache washes or oil paint, but when i opt for an evenly opaque look (thicker gouache, vinyl...)it always ends up being dull and lifeless, doll-like in appearance. I paint lots of dolls, toys ecc, especially in gouache, so I'm definetly more used to 'artificial skin' with that particular medium. Still I believe there is something I miss in rendering a portrait in opaque water medias with subsurface scattering effects, or proper highlighting or...Well, I don't know!
Is this a common problem?
Daniele, it's hard to answer that question quickly, but one pointer is that you don't have to go all opaque with the gouache. You can use it transparently in some passages, and you're more likely to get the unexpected variations and nuances you want.
When I opened this post, my first reaction was, "God, you're good, James!" Thanks so much for sharing your adventures.
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