Robie Benve Art

Vibrant Portrait III Acrylic on Paper I have been having so much fun doing these colorful portraits at the figure drawing/panting class! We had the same model and the same pose for three weeks, and each weeks I did a colorful portrait of her with acrylics on paper. Seeing other artists drawing with charcoal vine, kind of made me miss drawing the figure with charcoal, but this colorful experimentation is too much fun. Next week we'll have a different model, that will keep her pose for three weeks again. I can't imagine giving up color for now, I plan of doing three colorful version of that model too. Thanks for stopping by!  :)

"Brick House" 6"x6" Oil on Gesso board Available I tried to paint this house in the German Village in the spring but was not successful. I went back to Schiller Park this week, and tried again, this time on a smaller gesso board, and some miracle happened, because I quite liked the final result. :) Painting en plein air is lovely, I usually prefer natural landscape subjects, but mainly because buildings and structures are quite challenging to paint - for me. When I tried painting homes before I got this inner friction between my natural instinct to paint tightly, and the will to paint loosely, and often what comes out is none of the two. As we say in Italy the result "non e` ne' carne ne' pesce" (it's neither meat nor fish). lol This time I focused on the pattern of ligh and shadow, and I enjoyed painting it! :)

Vibrant Tree V 6"x6" Acrylic on stretched canvas I'm getting the hang of these vibrant trees, I can tell because I can paint them faster now. :) Mixing paint on the canvas instead than on the palette is always risky: you never quite know what each stroke brings, and you can easily create muddy colors. But it's fun! Sides of the canvas are 1" deep and painted dark, ready to hang on a wall or brighten up a shelf. :) Re-posted in Sep 2014 - Had to delete the original post (I forgot what date it was) because something weird was going on with traffic and scripts...

"Over the Rooftops" Oil on panel, 11"x14" I went "big" today. Instead of a 6x6 I painted an 11"x14". After a period of painting on location, this is a studio painting, made from a reference photo that I took this summer Italy, however my strategy has been to paint it like it was a plein air painting, quickly and loosely. This way I avoid painting too tight and I can finish it in a day, despite the bigger size. I feel like it has all the elements I wanted to incorporate, so I am posting it, though I'm not sure if I will retouch some things when I look at it again. Often, after the my eyes get some rest from a piece and I come back later with a fresh look, I see all kinds of things that I did not see while I was  involved in the painting. For reference I used a combination of the two photos below, a landscape in Veneto, the region of Italy where I come from.  

"Path in the Prairie" 8"x10" Oil on Gessoboard NFS Today I was finally able to join the COPA (Central Ohio Plein Air) group in one of their Saturday outings to paint on locations around Columbus, OH. Many Saturdays I tried to paint with them, but life has been taking me other places. My view when I was painting "Path in the Prairie" The prairie at Brandon Woods Park were gorgeous with yellow goldenrod, and the sun made them truly glow. :) A few of us decided to paint the same path :)

"Vibrant Portrait II" Watermedia on Paper Today at the model drawing/painting class we had same model and same pose as last Friday (It's a 3-week pose), everyone kept the same spot from last week so those who were continuing a painting could have the same angle. This is why this looks very similar to the one from last Friday - that you can see in a previous post-  though it's a brand new painting. I love doing these experimental colorful portraits! I try to use color temperature and value to make believable portraits, with unbelievable colors. So much fun! "Vibrant Portrait II", Detail I love painting colorfully, so exciting!  Next week I'll do another one, maybe changing position, and having a different view of the model, I heard some people won't be there next week, I could take their spot, we'll see.  :)

"The Outhouse" 6"x6" Oil on Board Sold I went to a local farm yesterday, and looking for something to paint I saw this cute little building, and soon realized it was a vintage toilette - well, there was a big sign in front of it that said so, lol - built in 1872. The outhouse was shaded by trees, and the dappled light on the side caught my attention, so I decided to give it a try. Now, considering that painting buildings is not my forte, and that light spots are challenging, I have to admit I am pretty pleased with the results. Painted completely on site. I have this thing now that when I paint en plein air, I don't like to tweak things in the studio. So, unless there are major issues that require extra brushstrokes, I don't touch up the painting after I leave the location. That's one more reason why I paint small: there is no way I can finish a bigger piece in a couple of hours. :) Have a wonderful and creative day!