Artist Gloria J Zucaro: Young Man

Our project on Tuesday afternoon was "Paint a mass of something". We could either use Frankie's references or do a still life using our own "mass". My friend Judy brought some vintage marbles, others used Frankie's reference photos as did I. I chose a bowl of strawberries, with some berries scattered on the table. We talked about varying the colors and edges from front to back and in the shadows. Up front or in the light there was greater contrast and sharper edges. In the shadows the color was toned down and the edges were softer. Way to the back, the colors were even darker and the edges almost smeared to disappear into the background. Below is my finished pastel painting.

On Wednesday we all cowered and cringed as we were told the project of the day! We were to use the easy method learned on Monday morning of making figures. With as few direct strokes as possible. The other part of the project was to combine two scenes of people into one composition. All of these references were from scenes in various bars. So people sitting or standing, waiters & waitresses, young couples, etc. I chose as my reference a very cheerful young man lifting his beer glass in salutation. The background was from the another bar scene that had three men in it, paintings or pictures on the wall(probably sports figures or celebrities) and some low hanging lights. I left out the other men and the low hanging lights. I used the colors in that reference for my background with my handsome young man. Here is my finished piece.