Instagram & Tumblr

Now on Instagram and Tumblr! For more "in progress" pics follow me on either or both of these sites. 

On Instagram at http://instagram.com/paulbatch

For Tumblr go to http://paulbatchpainting.tumblr.com/

Both sites are going to have a lot more images than I will post here or on my facebook page so if you are already interested in my artistic endeavors you might find it worthwhile to check out.

The image below is on Instagram but on a side note I really am enjoying working on Arches new paper for oils. So far it has been able to take an unexpected amount of abuse.

Recent Portrait

Finally! I'm just about to bite the bullet and call this one done. I've been messing with this thing on and off since last fall and I believe its about as good as I can get it.... for now. I started this portriat after first hearing about the "Zorn Palette" on Facebook. (Yes I only recently heard about this thing.) After using a palette consisting of white, ochre, red, and black I can't believe I hadn't heard of this earlier. I believe this is how everyone should learn how to mix flesh tones, especially for anyone just starting out. I've been focusing on working with a limited palette for a few years now and I have to say I found this palette great to work with. Like a lot of artists my medium of choice was a pencil, pretty much because that a pencil and paper is cheap and that's what was available. It wasn't until I got to college that I learned that there were harder and softer pencils that could offer varying degrees of darkness, and oh there's also this stuff called charcoal....ok so I've come a long way in that respect. However once I discovered oil paint I spent years destroying decent drawings with bad painting. I just didn't have the knowledge and vocabulary with color and paint application as I did with a pencil. I still think I can pump out a more refined drawing than I can paint but hey that's just part of what keeps me trying to constantly improve.

This is a 16x20 Oil on Canvas, I'm just calling it Kerri for now.

Demo at the Hamden Art League

Here are some pics from a demo I did at the Hamden Art League. I did a little 18x24 winter scene using a photo reference I took earlier that morning behind an industrial area here in town. I'm a firm believer that you don't have to go far to find beauty in nature. I did rework the piece in the studio and the last pic is the finished painting. I want to thank the Hamden Art League for having me, they have a great group of people and I enjoyed meeting so many new people. My next demo will be in Newtown on March 13, for more information go to http://www.scanart.org/demonstrations.htm.

Thanks for stopping by.

Paul

Recent Drawing

This is a recent drawing I did. I'm just started work on a portrait of the same model. Different pose however. I may paint this image as well but if I do I think I'll try and really down play the shadow side of the face.

Winter Palette

I did this painting on a palette for the Florence Griswold Museum's Christmas tree. I was honored to be asked to be a part of this since I admire so many of the other artists that have contributed to this tree in the past. 

Before and After

I've got two images here. One is the first pass through this painting. The second is the final piece. In between there were about 4 or 5 passes where I tried to refine the drawn elements a bit, pushed the tonal structure, paint application and obviously the color. Feel free to let me know what ya think.

No love for the Nude

This is a recent painting I completed earlier this year. I was hoping I could include it in a figurative show I'm participating in with a couple of other artists here in Connecticut. This painting unfortunately could not be displayed as it was "too nude".  It's 48x60 and is pretty confrontational but really? C'mon, I've seen stuff like this and worse in museums and art history books. I also had to take this painting down early from my grad show for the same reason.  Assuming it's not a horrible painting, I'm kind of taking this response as a compliment. However I'd like to be able to display it somewhere other than the storage facility where it currently resides.