New Blog Address

Hi everyone,

I've been posting away over at a blog that I have built into my website. The new web address for my blog is http://www.lacey-lewis.com/laceylewis/ . Please do check it out and update any bookmarks or subscriptions you may have! I've been sharing some really cool resources, videos, and of course works-in-progress. I hope you will join me!

Sincerely,
Lacey

*NEW* Workshop: Sketching the Figure in Oil

It's hard to believe that it's been over a year since I've updated my blog! Facebook took over my communications, but I do miss the blog.

I'd like to let anyone reading this know that I'm going to host a workshop on painting the figure in June at my studio in Kansas City, Missouri! Please contact me for details or to sign up.
   Saturday June 1, 7-9pm Demonstration
Sunday June 2, 10am-5pm Instruction and students working from model
$150/student, Saturday demo only $10
This is a workshop for anyone interested in painting or the figure. Lacey will discuss how she approaches a sketch from beginning to end. Block-in and general measuring of proportions will be covered with a strong focus on palette selection and mixing of skin tones. Please contact Lacey to sign up or for more information. Admission can also be purchased online at Brown Paper Tickets.

Also, here are some of my more recent paintings:

 

A Few Completed Paintings

"Lucky DeLuxe II"
Oil on Panel 14" x 11"

"Violet Vendetta"
Oil on Canvas 36" x 24"

"Jason Divad II"
Oil on Panel 14" x 11"

For more updates, please visit my artist's page on Facebook.

Video of Human Faces and Skulls

Hi everyone! As usual, my blog is suffering, and I loathe this. I had an opening at Hilliard Gallery in June, and have since been focused on a private commission. Hopefully I will be able to share the process of this commission once it's completed, as it's a posthumous double portrait and therefore requires detective-like strategies.

I've also just returned from a visit to Mexico City. While I was there, I visited the Museo Nacional de Antropologia and was fascinated by the various skulls on display. I took a video of an exhibit there which has images of skulls that fade into images of human faces as you move across the room.




Often I have my students try to overlay a drawing of a skull on top of a photo of a person, so I found this display very intriguing and useful. I hope you find the portions I recorded enjoyable; I did my best to hold the camera steady.

Annie Cherry III and Lucky DeLuxe

This 3rd (really, 4th) painting of Annie Cherry is just about done. Meanwhile, I have a couple other paintings going in the studio, including this underpainting of Lucky DeLuxe below:

These will be on display at Hilliard Gallery for my June show with them, Identity/Duplicity.

Sketchy Painting Beginnings

I've started, yes, another painting of the lovely Annie Cherry. I started off by dividing the 20" x 16" panel into sections (divided it in half both vertically and horizontally, and then divided those sections in half as well) to help with placement. Then I used a reference photo similarly divided and started having at it with charcoal pencils, much in the same way I work when I draw from life. Once I had things laid out relatively well I hit the whole surface with a soft brush to lightly smear the drawing and get rid of any dust on the surface.

I spent a day laying in the whole composition with undiluted paint applied thinly, focusing on broad, flat areas of color. I do put in some indication of major hue changes but mostly I try and clearly divide the light and shadow halves. The background pattern was not drawn before painting. In retrospect it would've been easier had I made a stencil. After all was done I used a small soft brush to get rid of any hard edges.

I had an hour or so yesterday to work again, so I started laying in some of the hue-changes in her face. There's still much to do, and likely lots of corrections to make, but it's progress!

More Anatomy Studies

Before I moved, I started working on some anatomy studies of Dan. I'd scanned in the skeletal study, but I didn't get the musculature scanned in before I packed up. When I come across this while unpacking I will scan it in and post it as well.

A Few Drawings From Red Door

What's Up

I feel bad that my poor little blog is neglected. My productivity has gone down somewhat painting-wise because I bought a house, moved, and have had some private commissions that I haven't shared here. However, I've of course kept drawing every Saturday night at the Open Figure Sessions and have done some more anatomy studies from those. I'm also slowly starting to complete work for a June exhibit at Hilliard Gallery, some of which I will begin posting here soon.

I'm also beginning work on a painting of a couple who are both deceased, with very few photographs as reference and no relatives available so that I can view similar skin tones in real life. It is something of a puzzle, but I hope to create a beautiful painting in honor of them. I've come up with the approximate color scheme and composition, and am currently working on pencil sketches of their faces where I try to combine info from the snapshots and alter the lighting to suit my needs. The next step will be to find people with similar skin tones, do color studies, and hit the Salvation Army for appropriate costuming. Then I will pose models or mannequins with the clothing and create the portrait from a combination of the sketches, color studies, and clothing/background references. Perhaps I will be able to share some of this process here.

So: Portraits, commissions, moving, teaching, drawing, studying, painting. That's what's up lately.