Des, in Costume

A detail from a recent painting made at a painting and drawing workshop given by the illustrator PJ Lynch at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin.

Here is a  pic below taken by PJ at the workshop.

A Portrait of Raven

A Portrait of Emma

A Portrait of Emma - oil/canvas - 20"x16"
Detail below.

Teresa and the Class Dynamic

The Class Dynamic - oil/panel - 12"x9"

Study in Ochre

Study in Ochre- oil/panel - 7"x5"

A ten minute oil study.
Created this little study at the ASL of New York in March 2012.

Donna

Donna - oil/panel by Richard Hearns.

I have to have personal contact with my models, I don't mean sexual love, I mean real love.
I have to become enamored, smitten. - Andrew Wyeth

Above: my second observational figure painting made at the studios of the Art Students League of New York City.

Model as Artist

Model as Artist - by Richard Hearns
oil/panel, Studio 7 at the Art Students League of New York.

Above is a figure study in oil. Created over four mornings. I spent about six hours in total orchestrating this painting.
Positioning the figure within the composition was interesting. I began by working with the larger negative shapes around the figure as I felt this the best way suited for me to begin the piece and get started. Gregg Kreutz, my mentor, came over to see my work and suggested that I might start by building the form of the figure - the volume, and he began to mass in the shape of the model in the canvas center. It was interesting to watch Gregg and see how he used the paint (eg what kind of consistancy etc) but after some careful consideration I decided that my way would serve this piece better in its over all orchestration and wiped off Gregg's demo to begin myself again.
On Gregg's return to me I believe he was very proud of my decision to begin myself again and continue on my own line of thought.

My feeling is paramount to my paintings. It is the initial idea or inspiration and concept that I hold onto and which drives my pieces. This is what makes me grow.
Painting at the Arts League of New York these past two weeks has reinforced that thought.
Many times during a painting session here I realize that it is as much about what not to do as what to do. I can witness all the pit falls of dabbing, copying, overworking etc as well as pick up some great ideas that will aid my creative development and process.

New York is the most wonderful place. Its just buzzing with energy and I am just getting started!

- Richard

Cathy

This sketch in oil on panel was completed in 40 mins at the end of a session of still life painting during my first week at the Artist League of New York. I have made several figure studies since my arrival and will continue to jump between still life and figure painting while under the studio guidance of Gregg Krutez.
The model portrayed in this sketch is Cathy, she has featured in many famous artists works including Nelson Shanks and she has been working at the League for many year now.

My concept for this sketch was to work with strong shapes and complementary colours .

Seated Pose

Seated Pose - oil/panel - 12"x9"

The last pose and sketch of 2011 made in the RHA life drawing room.
Am very proud of this expressive 2 hour study in oils - my last of 2011.

I won't be back at the academy painting from life until April 2012 but I will be posting images here from another academy! Look forward to filling you in on this venture in the near future.

Wishing you all a very peaceful, happy and joy filled Christmas and New year 2012!

- Richard

Mick reading his Book

Mick reading his Book - oil on panel - 12"x9"

It is and has been my observation that there are So many people are caught up in academia and and academic rendering of things. A brief chat with a very seasoned gallery owner this morning proved and reinforced that idea I have. The curator said that he sees over and over this kind of European style of academic schooling and art production. All focused on technique - the same techniques. I want and will my work to come from the inside out. When I painted Mick here I painted with gusto - in the moment, full of excitement energy and emotion. Rather then an academic rendering of the figure before me I want to assert my own interpretation of the event and have some Fun.

Ok, there are many things to learn about proportion, values, subtle tonal changes etc that working from a model enables and allows but I feel that will all come in its own good time and to some extent is already evident in my progression. I See more and the more I See the more I have to edit in my rendering.

All these poses you see here on this blog are made directly wet in to wet in oil and take no longer then two to three hours to compose. Working this way and on this rather small scale enables me to complete the sketch/study in the one sitting and is always a great surprise the following week when I return to collect the dry painting and start a new one.

Its all about expression! I've been attending these painting sessions at the RHA for some time now. I feel so privileged to be allowed to participate and work here with live models.This pose was set by me. I knew Mick, our model last week, enjoys reading his book. He is in fact a poet! So I suggested that a pose with his book might be nice.

Hope you like it. - Richard