My goodness, I knew that I was a little behind on this blog but I did not realise that the last entry was number 9! I finished number 15 today so just at the half way mark. It has been busy and sometimes a little difficult to fit in around other things going on in my life- but it is great. I am really enjoying it and am getting to talk to lots of great people. Unfortunately I can only post one image per entry here- so here Is number 14- back soon with more
Hair standing on the back of my neck reading this
It's amazing how many really nice people I am getting to know through this project. Every time know that I open any of my social media there are such lovely messages and posts waiting for me. I don't keep posting them, as it seems a little arrogant for me to do so but I just had to share this! The hairs literally stood in the back of my neck as I read it. It's so incredibly nice to have taken the time to compose and post such a beautiful message. Thanks Jigggs.
Thanks also to Melissa who made an equally incredible video of me drawing her and her mum interspersed with photos of them and a perfect music choice. You can see this in my Facebook page if you would like to.
Great message yesterday from stinkyPat too: Thank you for the honor of choosing me. I WAS able to catch the replay on Periscope this morning!! Such a GREAT process and a joy to share in the experience!! THANK YOU!!
With viewers like these I am getting way more out of the process than they are 😀😀
@stinkyPat
I changed my set up in advance of this portrait. For the previous ones I was working on an completely upright easal which is how I normally paint and draw. I thought this new set up might work better for viewing purposes and I am surprised to find that I like drawing this way - at I reckon just under a 45 degree angle.
Anyway I really enjoyed this one and I can see in thus and the last portraits that my drawings are getting better. They are looser and more painterly. I am also cropping my source images to be more like my style of painting.
Great fun and great chats with the viewers tonight. Another coincidence- I happened to put on a music playlist which seemed to have a reference to weddings in every song. One of my regular viewers who was actively watching (by that I mean chatting by inputting text on periscope) and it turns out his daughter was getting married the following morning!
So strange that these keep happening.
I really enjoyed drawing this. I am getting used to working in pastel and there is a big difference in those done in the first few days and now. I feel,like I want to redo them!! This one almost drew itself. It was lovely when I finished to go into Twitter to find that the person who tweeted me this source image got to see some of the broadcast. She sent me this message
I know who that is! Lovely surprise to see that gorgeous face appear whilst stuck on a delayed train home from LDN!
Follow me on periscope to catch my next broadcast - it might be you!
Portrait number 6
So Melissa tweeted me this photo of her mum and her taken on her wedding day. Her name got pulled out of the hat to be number six. I started to draw it online yesterday and I was delighted that she was watching. It turns out that her mum died last November so I am so happy to be able to send her this drawing at the end of the project. Weird thing happened! I haven't listened to Aretha Franklin probably for about six years. For some reason she came into my head when I was selecting music to listen to whilst scoping this live drawing session. Maybe it was because the original photo was a larger busier composition taken on Melissa's wedding day - maybe that music subconsciously reminds me of wedding after parties! I don't know. Anyway Melissa then mentioned that any time she heard her that it reminded her of her mum. I am not in any sense claiming to be telepathic or anything but you have got to admit this is very coincidental :)
Drew.
Firstly apologies if anyone is following these blogs today - that all five are being put up in the one day. I only decided to start blogging about the project this evening! Chris sent in this picture of his husband drew. It was part of a much larger composition where Drew was peaking out from vine leaves in a vineyard in Dubrovnik. I was delighted that they both have been on my scope while I was drawing this one. I really feel as if I am starting to improve using the pastels and nearly want to redo the first few!!! However I won't - not now anyway or I will never do one a day.
I should say that I purposely left the vine leaves as just a suggestion of what they are. I like the fact that they are obscure and when you look at the composition first you don't know if they are muppet like hair or a mad hairpiece or whatever :)
Portrait number four is a lovely lady called Deborah. I really enjoyed drawing this - not only because she has a really interesting face to draw but because for the first time in this project I feel like I am getting somewhere with these pastels.
I took a bit of artistic licence with the colours here. Deborah does not have bright red hair and purple lips - but I love colour - what can I say lol! Choice of music for the broadcast was Amy Winehouse - I think maybe she influenced me a little :)
I was delighted that despite me going nuts with the colours, Deborah recognised herself and loves the colours. Phew!
Incidentially apologies about the picture quality on these four last blogs. I am taking them at night and just using the camera on the iPad for speed.
At the end of the project I will post on my website better quality images.
Portrait number three is of a lovely little girl named Peyton whose mum sent me her pictures. She has such a sweet little face. I am so unused to working in pastels - I think it will take a few portraits before I relax into them. Kathy, Peyton's mum did not see the broadcast live but she did manage to see it on playback, as did Peyton.
Her mum has since told me that it is interesting that her portrait is number three, as Peyton was born early at 33 weeks weighing just 3 pounds on the 3rd of the month. She was in the hospital for 3 weeks and was released on December 30th. So lots of number three's in her life. Her grandad reckoned that 3 was a holy number and that Peyton would be fine. She was and she is.
And now she is number three - funny how things happen.
It is so great that people are starting to send me lots of images via Twitter to @OonaghLatchfordArt hashtag #30days30portraits
It is really exciting for me to log on and see all the lovely messages from all of you and I love how quite unexpectedly lots of you are sending me lovely little story's relating to the photos.
Portrait number two
This drawing is of a lovely lady called Nina and her husband Dean. Nina send me a photo of them on a trip to Ireland. (She is from the USA)
I am so much more in my comfort zone painting. I had not used pastels since I was probably in the early days in college but actually I am loving them. I decided to draw rather than paint as I wanted to use a medium that is relatively quick to use and one that would be good on paper - as I needed a support that would be light to post.
I was delighted that Nina was on periscope as I drew this so got to see the development of the drawing from start to finish. Dean was also on for a while.
I am loving how viewers can chat to me while I paint. Already I feel like I am getting to know some of you.
Portrait number one #30days30portraits
So what is this project? In short - I am drawing 30 portraits live on periscope from photos sent to me by periscope/Twitter and Facebook users. At the end of the project I will send the drawings out the the people whose photos they were drawn from free of charge - Yes totally free of charge.
Why you ask? Well I love painting portraits and the theme of working on portraits sourced from social media is a recurring one in my practice. I started in 2010 with my degree show being based on Facebook user profiles. You can see a video about it on you tube if you search under my name ( I will post a link when I figure out how) Anyway I have revisited this theme over the years, the latest being my painting 'The tooth fairy'. Having a stock pile of images to work from is fantastic for me and the free drawings are my way of saying thanks for letting me draw you. At project end after I have photographed the drawings I will send them out and put the photographs into some sort of book format. I will also paint from some of the drawings.
Artists have always recorded through their chosen medium those that they encounter in their daily lives - so it makes sense to me to work from social networks seeing as how they are modern communities which most of us spend considerable time on. Much of my work has had socially engaging elements to it and I guess painting live on periscope is an extension to this.
For the chance to have your photo drawn live on periscope and getting your drawing free * Tweet me @OonaghLatchfordArt the photo that you want drawn using the hashtag #30days30portraits *Watch the broadcasts on periscope @OonaghLatchfordArt if you want *If your portrait is drawn I will contact you towards the end of the project for an address to post your drawing to. *Wait for your drawing in the post