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I often take short Zoom workshops with Cynthia Rosen, an abstract landscape painter from Vermont, in the evening.  She has one or two a month through the Lake Placid Center for the Arts up near where she lives. I took a three day in person workshop from her back in 2017 in Manchester, which I enjoyed immensely. Cynthia is a wonderful instructor who really enjoys helping students understand their goals and reach their potential. When I saw an advertisement on Facebook for her portrait painting workshop, which specifically used palette knives, I was skeptical and almost didn't sign up.  I have taken so many portrait classes and attended so many life drawing sessions, that I wasn't sure I would enjoy something that seemed so different. 

In my mind, palette knife painting was (is?) for landscapes or at the very least, abstracts. But at the last minute I decided to give it a try since it was Cynthia who was teaching it. All the artist newsletters and videos I read/watch remind me to let loose and experiment. To play with the paint with no definite outcome in mind - something I rarely do. Wow! What a great time I had! And I'm so excited about the painting I made! I keep staring at it as it dries, as if I am not even sure I'm the one who painted it!  

I used landscape colors of Alizarin Permanent, Prussian Blue, Lemon Yellow, Chromium Oxide Green, and titanium white. I blocked in the head and shoulders with a brush in the green, and literally went for reckless abandon after that with the palette knife. In fact I even did the facial details with a palette knife. The result was something I never would have imagined, and I love it. 

When I looked at the photo we were working from, I was kind of puzzled. I had never worked from a portrait photo reference that had such little depth of shadow. Aside from the model's neck, her entire head and shoulders were in direct sunlight and lit from above and in the front.  But none of that seemed to matter as we attacked the work from every angle. 

I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoyed making it!  The moral: try new things!  Who knew? Ha!