Thursday, November 28, 2013

Principle Gallery Portrait Paint Off Demo

I wrote this just after I attended the Face Off demonstration and it was still in my drafts.  I decided to publish it, because I wanted to share this interesting experience.  

I was fortunate to attend "Artists to Duel in "Face Off II" a reception and paint-off hosted by the Principle Gallery in Old Town Alexandria, VA.  The Principle Gallery is on my sightseeing list when I have visitors.  

The featured artists were Mia Bergeron, Rachel Constantine, Cindy Procious, and Terry Strickland.  The four amazingly talented artists from the Women Painting Women collective painted portraits alla prima for 3 hours as we all watched, admired, and tried to pick up tips.

Read Art Connoisseur's write up for the show.  

The four painted before a packed house.  Each of the artists were very friendly and gracious, answering questions during the models' breaks.  It isn't easy to paint in front of a crowd.  You could almost hear an collective intake of breath from the crowd when Cindy wiped off her canvas after painting for over 30 minutes telling the crowd it wasn't working so she was starting over. 

Forgive me for the randomness of the photos.. I don't usually try and put so many photos in a posting and still trying to figure out how to do it better the next time.  

Cindy:

Cindy answering questions during a break


Cindy's portrait when they called time


 

Mia getting started with model in background

Mia's Painting When Time is called



Mia

 I wish I had a picture of Mia using a hand mirror to look over her shoulder at the model

It was Interesting How Each Artist Set up Their Palette

Cindy had hers set before she started


Rachel hung hers during breaks





Terry hung her palette next to her canvas (my paint would be sliding!)

Rachael:

Setting up before the crowd arrived

Rachael's painting when time was called

She dresses a heck of a lot better to paint than most painters I know!

 Terry:


You can see how crowded it was - and hot under the lights as they painted

Terry's Painting when time was called
Terry's start


Terry at a break chatting with the gallery