“Kendra No. 2” is an original oil portrait by Vancouver Island artist Joe Enns. The source photo comes from Kendra Neu (@kendraneu) in the Museum app.
“Self-Portrait No. 02" is an original oil painting portrait by Joe Enns in his Nanoose Bay studio on Vancouver Island.
Just when I thought I was done, the painting pulled me back in. “Jennie No.2” is a painting that I thought I had finished. I even wrote a blog post about the painting titled “Spontaneous Endings.” Well, the ending became even more spontaneous after I stared at the painting on my wall for a few months and decided something was missing.
One aspect that drew me to this source photo on the Museum app, was that the eyes weren’t the main focal point like in most portraits. Focal points are generally areas with the most detail; strongest contrast between lights and darks; and the strongest hues. I felt that the focal points for Mustached Man in a Hat would be the ear, the wrinkles around the eye, and the mustache/mouth area. I worked these areas more, but kept the outlying areas simple.
Some of my best paintings take the least amount of time. If a painting takes too long, I get the feeling that I’m over-working it and the colours become muddy. Often, I gesso over the painting and start again from scratch. One or two paintings have taken me years to complete (I procrastinate a lot and then get bored of them).
Before I started this painting, titled Jennie No. 2 Portrait, I came up with these objectives:
Prepare the canvas with oil to use as a background,
Paint quickly in alla prima (wet-on-wet paint),
Use as few layers as possible, and
Keep detail to focal points.
“Jasmine” is an original oil portrait by Vancouver Island artist Joe Enns. The source photo comes from Jasmine Howard (@jasminekh) in the Museum app.