from an old sepia colored photo I found at a tag sale
17 April 2018
working from a photo of people I’ve never met, I get no less involved in the feelings displayed than when I’m working on friends and family. This one was such a great representation of affectionate friendship.
Oh also, I only had about 2 hours and change to work on this one, rather than the 3+ that it seems to take to get to a more finished place. I would have liked to have studied the hand more carefully, and resolved or cleaned up some other areas. But the sketched feeling is also OK with me, as long as the basics are in the right places and have the right feel.
16 April 2018
Hmph. Not satisfied with the likeness.
Interesting that I’m not finding it problematic to be judgmental about the portraits, as there is a definite idea and goal, and I’m not worried that self-criticism will hang me up. Rather, it’s a more objective critique that urges me toward improvement of skills.
15 April 2018
I didn’t manage to make my friends as beautiful as they are, but I think I’m getting more of a handle on mixing colors with the Acryla-Gouache.
14 April 2018
Trying to get a handle on mixing colors with this Acryla Gouache. I have 3 primary colors plus black and white. On this one, I used no black, and only added white as a glaze at the end (mainly to tone down the yellow!)
Oh yeah, it’s my 6oth birthday this day, so the portrait practice is a selfie.
13 April 2018
high school best friends reunion
12 April 2018
Along with practicing portraits, I’ve been trying to get a handle on a new-to-me medium, Acryla Gouache. I’m not loving it, though I do love painting, but I’m determined to keep trying. It lacks the flexibility of my usual Caran d’Ache water soluble crayons, but the colors are more opaque and clear. I only have 5 colors, so have to figure out how to organize a palette for mixing effectively. The paint dries up faster than I use it, and can’t be refreshed with water after it’s dry, so that’s an additional challenge.
This is my big brother, and I’m sorry I gave him a grey face and an extra big nose, but I spent most of the time trying to get Echo the horse and all the harness stuff to look believable!
11 April 2018
I still have some work to do on color, and necks are still weird. But it was fun working off of the really unpolished photo of a hardworking dad.
10 April 2018
I mis-dated this on the original, oops.
I’ll be practicing portraits all of April, and I still have room for more. If you want me to practice on you, please send me a photo!
9 April 2018
