In progress: more dirndl portraits

Bea in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2012 Julie Galante.

I have nine large dirndl paintings that are in progress or finished so far, all of them hanging out around my studio. I think they’re going to make for an interesting body of work – so many beautiful women in colorful dresses all grouped together. I can’t wait to exhibit them somewhere. But first, I need to finish them!

I last shared this painting of Bea in this post back in October. I’m trying to remember to take more photos of my work at different stages, because I really enjoy looking back at them and seeing the progress I’ve made. I think this one is almost done. What do you think?

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Will you be in Munich on February 11th? Come see some of my paintings at Munich Creative Group’s Pop-Up Gallery!

Tags: dirndls, oils, painting, portrait, portraiture, work in progress

Painting in Progress: Sarah in a dirndl

Sarah in a dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2012 Julie Galante.

Happy New Year! I’m back in my studio in Munich and painting up a storm. My first goal of 2012 is to complete the first 10 paintings in my Women in Dirndls series. I have about seven of them in progress already. For the painting you see here, I’m happy in general with how it’s progressing, but I still haven’t figured out what the background color(s) will be. Any suggestions?

Tags: dirndls, Munich, oils, painting, portrait, work in progress

Work in progress: Bea in her dirndl

Bea in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

Before I start bombarding your with daily paintings for Art Every Day Month, I thought I’d post a look at one of the larger pieces I have in progress. It’s part of a series I’m working on, portraits of women wearing dirndls (traditional Bavarian dresses). I’m hoping to have 10-12 of them finished by the end of the year. My painting schedule is full!

Tags: dirndls, Germany, Munich, oils, Oktoberfest, painting, portrait, work in progress

Dirndl portrait in progress: Petra

Petra in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

I love how painting changes the way I see. Now that I’m spending so much time painting dirndls, I have a whole new appreciation for the infinite variations they can have. Wandering around Oktoberfest these last few days, I seem to be spending most of my time checking out all the dirndls around me (and sometimes fighting off the urge to chase someone down and beg her to model for me). In past years I don’t think I ever gave dirndls a second thought.

Basically these traditional Bavarian outfits have three parts: a sleeveless dress made up of a bodice and skirt; a small half-shirt with sleeves, and an apron. Each part seems to come in an infinite number of cuts, colors, and fabrics. Petra’s white cotton shirt with puffy sleeves is typical, although colored shirts have gained some popularity in recent years. Her purple dirndl and apron, both picked up at a second-hand store, fit her beautifully. That’s something else I’ve started noticing at Oktoberfest – whose dirndls fit correctly, and whose don’t. This is pretty strange for me; typically I don’t even pay attention to my own clothing, much less anyone else’s.

Tags: dirndls, Germany, oils, Oktoberfest, painting, portrait, portraiture, work in progress

Painting through Oktoberfest

Dirndl portrait: Emmy (in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

I have so many paintings in progress right now and I’m excited about all of them. I’ve recently started on a new series of 80 x 60 cm (32 x 24 in) portraits featuring women wearing dirndls. These traditional Bavarian dresses have returned to popularity in a big way here in Munich, especially at Oktoberfest and other celebrations. Almost every woman I know here owns at least one dirndl, so finding models for this series hasn’t been too difficult. This is probably the only city in the world where that would be true!

It’s a little difficult to keep up my painting momentum this month since we have a lot of house guests visiting for Oktoberfest. I love guests, but having them for a month straight is definitely a bit of a challenge for an introvert like me. I’m trying to sneak in as much painting as I can while our visitors are out exploring Munich or off on day trips to other towns.

Check it out: the Etsy Germany Street Team blog is featuring me today!

Tags: dirndls, Munich, oils, Oktoberfest, painting, portrait, work in progress

Portrait with attribute: woman with BlackBerry

Woman with BlackBerry Bold 9000, 60 x 40 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

This is one of my new series of portraits with modern technology attributes. I’ve been fascinated by attributes in historical portraiture for a while now, and this body of work is my attempt to play with this traditional aspect of portraiture in a present-day context. I am using a very narrow range of gagets as attributes during this first series; the items are all highly personal and so modern that they place the portrait firmly in the present; most of the objects did not exist a year or two ago, and thus these paintings also could not have existed until now.

Once I had conceived of the project, I knew that one of the portraits would have to be of my friend Anita and her BlackBerry. Several years ago, hers was the first BlackBerry I used (it was an older model, equipped with one of those wacky nipple-like navigation nubs). We were on a train trying to find out the score from a World Cup soccer game, I think.

What’s the piece of technology you use the most?

Tags: attributes, oils, painting, portrait, portraiture

Work in progress: self portrait with iphone 4

Self portrait with iphone 4 (work in progress), 70 x 50 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante

If you follow this blog you’ll know that I’m in the middle of painting a series of portraits with modern technology attributes. I’ve been putting my subjects in unnatural posed positions, and seeing what different kinds of moods I can evoke. So far the project has been really interesting. I’m happy with the way it’s progressing.

I think this one is almost done. What do you think?

Tags: attributes, oils, painting, portrait, portraiture, work in progress

A series is born

So just the other day I was whining about how hard it is for me to work in series.

Work in Progress: Scott with MacBook Pro.©2011 Julie Galante.

Now suddenly my studio is full of related paintings in progress, and I have six more models lined up. I do believe I’ve found myself a series.

I’ve been thinking about traditional portraiture and the use of attributes for a while now, and all these thoughts finally percolated into an idea I wanted to pursue. I am really enjoying the the focus and excitement I feel as I define the project and put together this group of paintings. So this is why artists work in series!

Tags: attributes, oils, painting, portrait, portraiture, thoughts, work in progress

On portraits and attributes

Jessica, 60 x 80 cm, acrylic on canvas, ©2007 Julie Galante.

I’ve been thinking a lot about attributes recently. In portraiture, an attribute is an object included to help the viewer identify the subject, or to communicate something about the subject. Artists’ self portraits often include paint brushes or a palette, for example. Catholic saints are often recognizable because of their attributes, such as St. John the Baptist’s hairy cloak or the many arrows poking through St. Sebastian’s body. In traditional portraiture, a scholarly lady might be depicted with her hand on a stack of correspondence, a sailor with his arm resting atop a giant anchor. Attributes can be subtle or obvious, literal or symbolic.

Jen, 40 x 50 cm, oil on canvas, ©2010 Julie Galante.

While strolling through the academic portraits in Munich’s Neue Pinakothek recently, I started thinking about how I could incorporate attributes into my own work. With few exceptions, my portraits tend to depict the subject alone and out of context. I rarely include a distinguishable background, and even clothing details are usually left out. If I were to set out to include this traditional part of portraiture in my new paintings, how would I do it? Would I be literal, choosing an object from the subject’s daily life? Would I let my subjects choose their own attributes, or would I assign them myself? Would I make these attributes about description, aspiration, or something else entirely?

What if I just chose the object that a person spends the most time with? For many of us in today’s world, that would end up being a piece of technology: a cell phone, a laptop, an ipod. But even for those most connected to their devices of choice, would this be the item you chose to define yourself? Could an ipad be symbolic of something more noble or abstract, such as a love of learning, or games, or communication?

What about you? If I were to paint your portrait, what would your attribute be?

Tags: attributes, painting, portrait, portraiture, thoughts

Daily painting: self portrait, pink and purple

Self portrait in pink and purple, 30 x 30 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

I didn’t set out to paint myself using mostly two colors, but somehow this is what I ended up with at the end of the afternoon. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll keep working on it or leave it as-is. The background is just blank canvas at the moment.

This painting was done from life, me staring at my reflection in a small mirror propped up on my art table next to my easel.

Tags: daily painting, oils, painting, portrait