Līna Skvarika

The last painting i did from my sketchbook in class. I did my sketch from life in the college smoking area, and I used a photo to help with painting.

Two more paintings i have been working on at home one which i have already looked at in a previous post of my grandparents in Latvia and another of a photo I also took in Latvia from the same place and time. Both are unfinished, but I thought it would i would include them anyways.

I also wanted to include two other painting I have worked on throughout first year.

Edouard Manet

Édouard Manet (1832–1883) was a groundbreaking French painter who served as the critical bridge between Realism and Impressionism. Often hailed as the "father of modern art," he revolutionized the art world by rejecting traditional academic subjects like mythology and history in favour of capturing the raw, unidealized "heroism" of modern Parisian life.

Contemporary Subject Matter: He painted common urban scenes, including cafés, racetracks, and even controversial portraits of prostitutes.

Loose Brushstrokes: His technique often appeared "sketchy" or unfinished to critics, utilizing broad, visible strokes that emphasized the act of painting itself.

Flattened Perspective: He challenged traditional Renaissance depth, often using stark contrasts and black outlines that made his subjects appear flatter on the canvas.

Alla Prima Technique: Instead of building up slow layers, he often applied the final hue immediately, a method later adopted by the Impressionists.

Alexa Meade

Alexa Meade is a world-renowned American installation artist who is famous for developing a technique that collapses three-dimensional space into a two-dimensional illusion. By painting directly onto the human body and physical objects, she creates "living paintings" that look like flat canvases when photographed.

Signature Style: Her work uses acrylic paint and heavy brushstrokes to cover subjects, creating a walking, talking optical illusion that challenges depth perception.

Mainstream Collaborations: She is widely known for body-painting singer Ariana Grande for the 2018 "God is a Woman" music video.

Immersive Exhibits: In 2022, she opened Wonderland Dreams on Fifth Avenue in NYC, a 26,000-square-foot interactive "dreamscape" attended by over 100,000 visitors.

Don Bachardy

Don Bachardy is a renowned American portrait artist known for his vibrant, expressive depictions of Hollywood legends and cultural icons. His work often captures a raw, psychological depth through bold colors and loose, energetic line-work. 

Celebrity Subjects: Since the 1950s, he has served as a sort of "court painter" for Hollywood, sketching stars like Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, and Jack Nicholson.

Signature & Dating: He often has his subjects sign and date their own portraits, making the artwork a collaborative record of their meeting.

The Isherwood Connection: Bachardy was the longtime partner of British novelist Christopher Isherwood. His portraits of Isherwood, particularly those documenting the writer’s final days, are considered some of his most moving and profound works.

Artistic Evolution: His style ranges from precise, minimalist ink and pencil drawings to vivid, almost psychedelic acrylic paintings that emphasize facial contours and emotions.

I really like his unique perspective on portraits and the way he illustrates emotion and facial expressions. I also like the way he uses colour and minimal brush strokes to make a complete image.

Last life drawing of the year.

Im really happy with the results of this last session. I feel I made the best results here out of all the other times I did life drawing.

Paintings done based on sketches

Life drawing with Sylvia

I struggled a lot in this session and found myself getting really frustrated, but in the end, im happy with my results.

Some smaller sketches i did from the bus while stuck in traffic.

These paintings i did were based on a picture I took of my grandparents in Latvia, I did two close ups of my grandmother and a bigger sketch of the full image.

I felt this really fit the brief of depicting human figures in everyday settings.

Sketches ive done of my friends in the canteen and smoking area

Today, we presented our artist presentations it was a fun way to learn about new artists, and I thought it was interesting how different people presented their artists

Life Drawing

Did some flower still life's in different mediums

Reference

Blue acrylic paint

Charcoal

Indian ink and paint brush

Indian ink and pallet knife