Mattias Wirf
Örebro, Sweden
Draws & paints. Swede born 1975. I went to artschool in early 90's, been on and off it as a career. Father. Programmer. Volvo-driver. Beer-drinker.
Mattias Wirf
added comment inBest Online Oil Painting Course?
2yr
You might want to check out Steve Hustons course on New Masters Academy, I'm going through it right now and I like it so far. But it depends much on that I like his teaching style I think. Also, he does some studies in there and if I remember correct both with Zorn and Sorolla.
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2yr
Nice work! :)
I especially like her eyes, and the movement in her hair and nearmost shoulder.
Mattias Wirf
2yr
Thanks :) The eyes I had trouble with for a while, but they turned out ok.
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Progress of a portrait2yr
About six months ago I posted a portrait wip. I never finished it, couldn't get it to where I wanted. Heres the topic: https://www.proko.com/community/topics/wip-portrait-critique
Some days ago I picked it up again, and painted it over using the Zorn palette. I finished it last night and was pleased enough (are there not always things we would change in to eternity?).
So I wanted to show what happened since the last topic :) Here it is, portrait of Beatrice, oil on canvas, 40x50cm / 15x19" It feels nice because I feel I'm doing some progress.
2yr
Is the hair in the bun colored red? I have never painted strongly colored hair becuase it seems hard. But I was curious.
Actually I really like how handled the hair overall. Maybe some more highlight where it turns from the light.
Bra jobbat! ;)
2yr
The only thing I can think of is that the joint of the arm seems odd, the whole arm have good lenght but the forearm looks longer than the upper arm, and according to proportions diagrams, the upper arm (counting all the way to the deltoid) is longer than from the elbow to the wrist. The rest og the drawing looks awesome. Hope this critique helps.
2yr
The right arm "maybe" looks slightly long (the radius and ulna), but then again she is stretching it out. The body looks perfect... really perfect. It's a wonderful drawing. The body is something that I struggle with always. The cloth looks amazing too!
2yr
Thank you :) I often struggle with hands, but here I was lucky and they were a bit hidden ;)
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2yr
There are short and fat bottomed people, one has made the argument that they make the rocking world go round (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMnjF1O4eH0). I think this is a great drawing, and the only thing to consider as far as proportion has already been said. Keep going. Lyka till!
2yr
Thanks :) Short and fat bottomed is a accurate description of me, maybe I did what many did in art school, project my own proportions on the model ;)
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2yr
Without looking at the model or original photo, I think the proportion is very convincing, as long as the pubic bone is at the 1/2 of the whole body, it can't be too wrong. The bottom, in this way, somehow captures the gracefulness of the female model. Very nice work indeed.
2yr
Thank you :) The model is on Instagram, @diana_jean_o, not the reference for this though, I bought a set. Tomorrow this seasons life drawing sessions starts where I live, which will be awesome! :)
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Save profile not working2yr
I can not save the profile, nothing happens when I click "Save changes". I don't think it is because of the content and I get no warning. When I try to reload the page the browsers warn me I have unsaved data.
Tested on Mac Book Pro 2019, macOS 10.15.7
Browsers: Firefox Developer Edition 93 and Google Chrome 93
Firefox shows some warnings (common samesite-attribute warning, to much will-change memory consumption, can not load google analytics) in console, but no errors.
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Correct proportions?2yr
I posted this on social media and got some weird comments, about that she looks short and the bottom to fat and such. It was on reddit though, so I'm not sure if I should to much attention to that ;)
I'm a little bit unsure about the right arm, I always think it's hard when they are stretched out like that.
But in general I'm pleased with how it turned out. Or I have turned blind to it, looking at it too much...
2yr
An updated, very small colourstudy, that will bring it closer to what I want.
About the oil + ventilation question - there is artist grade water mixable oils. Or paint with regular oils and don't use solvents.
2yr
Really cool painting @Mattias Wirf! When I get stuck on a painting, I kind of have a checklist of concepts I like to roll through to make sure each aspect of my piece is working. For this one, I brought it back to the value stage and focused a bit more on values, light, and a tiny bit on composition.
So, the lighting logic on your figure is off, BUT I do like how it basically turns the figure into a very clear bright shape to help her stand out in the composition. I'd say if you want to keep the light like this, it might be ok in this scenario. I just cleaned up your shadows a bit so that the shadow value matches the upper part of the leg that's completely in shadow. Additionally, I added a cast shadow to bring a bit more light logic to the piece.
To contrast with the idea of 'Spring', I think it might be a cool idea to add variety to the background through the trees. I've chosen to use trees without leaves on them, which gives them a more threatening shape that contrasts with the main focus of your piece. You don't necessarily have to go in this direction, but it is a good idea to consider how you can use background elements to add variety to your painting, and give greater emphasis to your focal areas.
I also think that Yiming's comment on color is valid as well. The areas like the grass and dirt in the foreground seem a bit too warm, especially when the colors should be influenced by the ambient cool light that we can see in the background.
Hope you found this helpful! Let me know if there is anything that I can clear up for you.
2yr
Thanks for your comment :) Yes, that was kind of the way I was going down. I will probably try to be a little bit looser in style too.
I have some reference photos I have been thinking of for the woods - I photographed them in quite chilly conditions about 12 years ago :) I have trouble making the colours on her, and with the light, work together with it. I have a model reference shot indoors in studio light. Hm, maybe I should try different colours digitally first.
2yr
This is an unusual and interesting pose.
I think what you could do next is to add indirect light reflections. You see the human colour is a bit "disconnected" with the whole frame, so it might be good to introduce some blue/green-ish reflections on her skin so the viewer can see it's united. the leg seems to have that idea already, it might be the brightness is too high as a reflection so it didn't quite unite the image that well.
2yr
Thank you for your comment :) Yes, one plan was to add some reflections from the left and also let her leg and feet almost fade away in the dark cold forest. I've had trouble finding reference images for the light I had in mind though.
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Stuck with draft/underpainting2yr
So, I guess this is what happens when your to eager and want to get started. I had this idea of painting spring as a woman (and it was spring outside, inspiring), and she was going to come down and conjure up flowers from the ground with a dark woody background. I got this up as quick as possible on a 70x90 cm canvas. Now I'm undecided on how to continue. I guess I should have listened when they talk about thumbnails, lol. There is going to be white small flowers where she touches the ground.
It is back to the drawingboard for me, but if anyone has comments or ideas I'm all ears. This is off course very, very far from finished... I was even hesitant if I could post it, but what the heck, here it is.
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Hey everyone! I am James, and I have done some form of art all my life. I have worked with graphite, charcoal, colored pencil, pastel, oil, acrylic, digital,... My recent focus has been on digital paintings of portraits and figures. Attached are some of my digital works done in Photoshop. I also have a PhD in engineering biomechanics, so I have a strong background in anatomy and human movement. I try to use that in my art.
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Hello! I'm Mattias, 45 years old, from Sweden. I went obsessed with art as a kid, went to artschool in the early 90's. Got a job as a portrait painter in the late 90's - but it was not creative and took piece and piece away from my passion. When I quit that job I moved and got into a studio in Stockholm with my wife, but we lost the second hand contract on the place. Slowly I painted less and less.
I also have an education and experience as a webdeveloper, and it was an easier way to make money. I still did small, occasional jobs with painting/drawing/illustration and such in my local area, but not very often.
In 2017/18 I suddenly got a strong urge to draw and paint again, I'm not sure why (you may call it a midlife crisis ;) ) So I started drawing again, and just recently we got a studio with room for the whole family, and I'm getting back to painting. I've also found the local art school (one block away from where I live) have life drawing sessions. Life is good.
Some images of inkwork attached.
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