blizzards

We’re in a blizzard here in Massachusetts. Fortunately the power is still on, but we ain’t going anywhere for a looooong time.

Settling in.

I decided to try painting another portrait (my own) based on a photograph.

Here’s the inspo pic from last fall:

Here my painting:

Portraits are hard! This makes me want to take another class with my teacher from last fall. She was good at portraits, but alas, I have registered for a different (cheaper) class, closer to home, where we will focus on “cute baby farm animals.”

ChatGPT gave me some solid feedback on the portrait though:

Lightly mapping planes (forehead plane, side planes of nose, cheek planes) before committing to color would increase dimensional accuracy.

The biggest difference between the painting and photo is contrast and value structure.

The photo has stronger: Shadow under the brow ridge Shadow on the right side of the face (viewer’s right) Cast shadow under the nose Subtle shadow under the lower lip

In the painting:

Midtones dominate. Shadows aren’t quite dark enough, especially around the eyes and under the cheekbones. This reduces form and depth.

Fix: Push darks 15–20% deeper in:

Eye sockets Side of nose Under cheekbone (viewer’s right side) Neck shadow under chin

That alone would dramatically increase realism.

Biggest Growth Area:

Value structure and form modeling

If you deepen shadows and increase plane awareness, this would jump from a good portrait to a very strong one.

OK, I can take that criticism (nicer than some human art teachers I’ve known) and I agree with it.

ChatGPT as Art Teacher

In case you haven’t heard, a major winter storm is coming—the likes of which we haven’t seen around here since 2022.

It’s currently 1 degree Fahrenheit and the grocery stores will be packed today with everyone trying to stock up before the snow starts tomorrow around noon. (At this point, I’m still planning to go to church tomorrow morning.) People in non-snow climates: the idea of being stuck inside with your loved ones for 24-48 hours tends to make people buy eggs, milk, bread and firewood like they’re going out of style.

A shared memory for GenXers from Massachusetts is the Bizzard of ‘78, when they cancelled school for like a whole week. It was awesome. People remember jumping off their roofs into huge snowbanks, bumper skiing (when you hold onto your friend’s bumper and they pull you down the snow covered street), and building giant holes and igloos which could’ve collapsed and suffocated their occupants at any moment. There were surprisingly few snow accidents, although one friend’s brother was very seriously injured by a plow that didn’t see him playing in a snow bank. Stay OUT OF THE WAY of the plows, people!