“Feeling Blue” (2024). Louis Cooper. Oil on canvas. 24″x24″ Another portrait of Susan, composed using the assistance of Midjourney generative AI and Insight FaceSwap to substitute Susan’s features.
“Mikko holding Susan” (2024). Louis Cooper. Oil on canvas. 24″x24″ Generative AI image using Midjourney with prompt: /imagine: a portrait of a mature Dutch woman with thick blond hair in 19th century dress, holding a bobcat, oil painting, 19th century american folk art, detailed facial features, symmetrical eyes –chaos 25 –ar 4:5 Then face-swapped in Susan’s face using InsightFace. Replaced the AI generated cat...
I modeled this portrait after one created by Mary-Jane Ansell, which won her a BP Portrait Award. Swapped Susan’s face, into the original, and painted a master copy in a less photo-realistic style, emphasizing expressive brushwork and more chiaroscuro effects. Here are the original and my version side by side. I admire Ansell’s composition, lighting and patient attention to detail. I’ll need to work on that. I paint very quickly and...
Inspired by the portrait “Lotti” by Louis Smith. I borrowed his pose and sitter’s costume and swapped in Susan’s face. This worked nicely because of the similar features of Lotti and Susan. Susan much more beautiful of course. Painted Alla Prima. “Dreamer” (2024). Louis Cooper. Oil on wood panel. 24″x18″
A portrait of my sister Elisabeth. She works in the vegetable garden and healing plant garden at Camphill Village, Copake, NY. Her community also raises cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, etc…. She is a soulful one and very much in touch with nature. Hands in the Earth. But she hates to be called a Farmer. “I am not a Farmer! I am a Lover and a Healer!” “I am Not a Farmer” (2024). Louis Cooper. Oil on canvas....
A portrait of Susan wearing an oriental robe. She has been teaching herself Mandarin Chinese, which led to the title for this portrait. In addition to continuing to use Generative AI to assist with painting composition, I have been trying to combine realism with a more impressionistic rendering of clothing and backgrounds. Homage to John Singer Sargent. “Wo Yao Hanbaobao” (2024). Louis Cooper. Oil on canvas. 20″x16″
Continuing to experiment with Generative AI and Face Swapping as a means of generating inspiration for paintings. Note the lace head-covering Susan is wearing. Something inspired by a Rubens? “Spacesuit” (2024). Louis Cooper. Oil on canvas. 24″x24″
A wedding gift for my nephew Owen and his fiancée Dora. Generative AI used to compose the scene with the prompt: “an oil painting portrait of a happy couple in the style of John Singer Sargent, 19th century dress, background reminiscent of a gilded age mansion, detailed facial expressions, symmetrical eyes no moustache –v 6.0” Then swapped in the facial features of each of them to create my model. “Dora and Owen” (2024)....
Continuing to experiment with Generative AI to compose painting ideas using Midjourney. This time used a number of images instead of words as prompts. Photographs of the lilies in Lily Pond which abuts our home in the Berkshires, combined with photographs of Susan. “Lily Pond” (2024). Louis Cooper. Oil on canvas. 24″x36″
Continuing to experiment with Generative AI to compose painting ideas using Midjourney. In this case my prompt was: “A 19th century clean-shaven Norwegian man with short hair dressed in a sailor’s smock, oil painting, self-portrait, in the style of Caravaggio, intense chiaroscuro, mysterious lighting, detailed face, symmetrical eyes –no beard, –chaos 25 –ar 4:5” “Self Portrait as a Seaman” (2024). Louis Cooper....
Art for Art's Sake
Self Taught, I am nobody .... nobody's perfect
This has not been a productive couple of years for me. Working almost exclusively nightshifts in the Emergency Room has taken a bit of a toll on my energy level. I seem to always be either working … or recovering from working. It’s hard to improve as a painter if you’re not painting. Year Paintings 2012 29 2013 35...
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The end of 2016 had me working an excessive number of hours in the ER. I also picked a model I initially had difficulty relating to (even though it was ME!) The composition seemed a bit theatrical and unreal. So I ended up messing around with it way longer than I typically spend on a painting. Typical start, but had to do a number of glazes and adjustments to achieve the...
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After painting my Dad, and with my Mom’s birthday just around the corner, I decided to paint a companion painting of my Mom. Same size panel and similar palette. I liked the gesture of the hand and the smile. Oil on cradled birchwood panel from “American Easel.” Ground was then toned with burnt sienna. Palette and Supplies: Quinacridone Red Quinacridone...
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Had lunch at the Brooklyn brauhaus “Buschenschank” with my Dad. I snapped a few pics because the light and his expression were just right. It was a fun experience painting my Dad just before Fathers Day. Long hours spent looking into his eyes, seeing the spark of life appear, touching his cheek with my brush. I guess this is one of the reasons I enjoy...
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Saw a cool mask at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and thought it would look good on Suzy’s head. Oil on canvas. Store-bought canvas, primed with acrylic gesso. Ground was then toned with burnt sienna. Palette and Supplies: Quinacridone Red Indian Red Naples Yellow Yellow Ochre Raw Sienna Burnt Sienna Burnt Umber Phthalo Blue Phthalo Green Flake White Chromatic...
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A master-copy of the classic painting by Francisco de Zurbaran. I’m not really good enough to copy it — I’d call it more of an “interpretation.” Not sure why I was drawn to this painting. Strange how some things can beckon. This is my third sheep or goat painting, and I’ve painted quite a few pears too. Hmmm …. I wonder what this...
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Oil on wooden panel. Panel prepared with three coats of acrylic “gesso” lightly sanded between coats. Ground was then toned with Transparent Earth Red. Palette and Supplies: Cadmium Red Medium Quinacridone Red Yellow Ochre Naples Yellow Ultramarine Blue Transparent Earth Red (FastMatte) Raw Umber Burnt Umber Flake White Galkyd Slow Dry Medium (for the glazes)...
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Painted a series of Daily Paintings featuring different perspectives on Zu. Each one was small format and completed in a single sitting, painted alla prima.
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Painted a series of Daily Paintings featuring different perspectives on Zu. Each one was small format and completed in a single sitting, painted alla prima.
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Painted a series of Daily Paintings featuring different perspectives on Zu. Each one was small format and completed in a single sitting, painted alla prima.
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Painted a series of Daily Paintings featuring different perspectives on Zu. Each one was small format and completed in a single sitting, painted alla prima.
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Oil and gold leaf on wooden panel. Panel prepared with three coats of acrylic “gesso” lightly sanded between coats. Ground was then toned with Transparent Earth Red. Palette and Supplies: Cadmium Red Medium Quinacridone Red Naples Yellow Sap Green Viridian Green Ultramarine Blue Prussian Blue Dioxazine Purple Transparent Earth Red (FastMatte) Flake White...
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Oil and gold leaf on wooden panel. Panel prepared with two coats of acrylic “gesso.” Ground was then toned with Terra Rosa. Gold leaf was applied to entire panel and oil paint applied over leaf. Palette and Supplies: Cadmium Red Medium Naples Yellow Yellow Ochre Terre Verte Phthalo Blue Terra Rosa Burnt Sienna Burnt Umber Mars Black Flake White Galkyd Slow...
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Oil on mounted linen. Canvas prepared with two coats of acrylic “gesso” followed by two coats of oil based primer. Ground was then toned with burnt sienna. Palette and Supplies: Cadmium Red Medium Quinacridone Magenta Yellow Ochre Transparent Orange Phtalo Blue Dioxazine Purple Burnt Sienna Burnt Umber Rich Gold Chromatic Black Flake White Galkyd Slow Dry...
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Oil on reclaimed canvas. Canvas prepared with two coats of acrylic “gesso.” Ground was then toned, painted with a different portrait in acrylic paint. Canvas was reclaimed by painting over the original portrait with a mixture of Raw Umber and Flake White. Liberally embedded as usual with cat hair for texture. I limited myself to a palette of only 6 colors....
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Based on the still life by contemporary artist Arthur Da Costa (1921-2004). Did this one really quickly for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to see how fast I could do it (about 5 hours total). Second, I wondered how it might feel to have to paint towards a deadline. Artists are undervalued and underpaid by our society. Only a minority of artists actually support...
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Based on the still life by contemporary Dutch painter Jos van Riswick. Oil on mounted linen. Canvas prepared with two coats of acrylic “gesso,” one coat of Gamblin Oil Primer. Ground was then toned, painted with a different portrait. Canvas was reclaimed by painting over the original portrait with a mixture of Hooker Green, Raw Umber and Flake White....
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I liked this photograph, taken by Michael, of himself and Nina in a mirror. Hence the title “Selfie Portrait.” Oil on canvas. Canvas prepared with two coats of acrylic “gesso,” one coat of Gamblin Oil Primer. Ground was then toned, painted with a different portrait. Canvas was reclaimed by painting over the original portrait with a mixture of...
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I’ve been a bit distracted lately and have not been painting as much as I’d like too. Perhaps because I wasn’t very happy with this most recent painting. That was until I compared it with my previous work and realized that I was even less happy with my older paintings. So I guess that’s a sign of improvement? I doubt that I’ll ever be happy...
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Took a bit longer to do this one due to the number of layers of glazing required for the hat. Reclaimed a canvas that featured the portrait of a special woman (who hated her portrait). So it was either i.) paint over it or ii.) hang it in the furnace room. Oil on canvas. Canvas prepared with two coats of acrylic “gesso,” one coat of Gamblin Oil Primer. Ground...
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Here’s the progression of a portrait of Suzy and me on the occasion of our 26th wedding anniversary. It’s a small work and was completed in three sessions, each 1-3 hours long. I probably could have completed the painting in two sessions and with a smaller palette but I ended up fussing over it a bit. Oil on wooden panel. Panel was sized with Gamblin PVA...
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Here’s the progression of my portrait of Milo. It was a quick study completed in two sessions, each 2-3 hours long. Oil on wooden panel. Panel was sized with Gamblin PVA Size, two coats of acrylic “gesso,” one coat of Gamblin Oil Primer. Ground was then toned with a mixture of Raw Umber and Flake White. Palette and Supplies: Cadmium Red Medium...
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“Self Portrait” (2015). Louis Cooper. Oil on Panel. 6″ x 6″. Painted this in one session on a small six-inch wooden panel that Suzy brought home from her architectural office.
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“Honibaba” (2015). Louis Cooper. Oil on Panel. 12″x12 ” Private Collection of David Cooper.
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I contributed four of my earliest works to Bob and Roberta Smith’s: Art Amnesty Project at MoMA PS1. I can now say that I’ve been exhibited in my first group show! The works are to be destroyed at the conclusion of the show. Check out: http://momaps1.org/exhibitions/view/391 Here are a couple of the works after they had been nailed to the...
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