Noah's guitar

Remember the pictures of my grandniece Sophie playing her violin and then a couple years later, her flute? Well, her little brother Noah, now nearly 10, is also a musician. This Christmas I snapped some photos of him playing his guitar and when I was trying to boot myself back to work in the studio this was the image from which I most wanted to make a painting.

 As usual, I'm not going to say a whole lot here. The photos tell the story with only a few comments:

 I'm using an old painting nullified with a couple coats of quick-dry titanium white. (Remember! never gesso or acrylics over oils)

 the tone of the picture is mostly reds, so I'm sketching in red

 I'm not using the background in the photo so here are some small value studies to figure out the composition.

 Thinner on the darks...

 heavier on the lights...

 I always think it's kind of funny when another painting jumps into these photos.

 Oooh that guitar has a rubber neck!

 better, but not right yet

 Having trouble getting this beautiful instrument lined up right!

 Trying to keep the shapes simple in the face and hands.

 Yes! I like this hand!

 Still working on getting that neck down.

Almost, but not quite.

I'm back in class with Gabriel tomorrow so I won't be working on this, but I'll share again soon.