Pansy No. 3

 

 

 

I wanted to try another pansy just for practice. I did this one on an ACEO card (2 1/2 by 3 1/2). I should have quit after about 10 minutes when I thought it looked good, but I can't leave the paint alone--I have to keep fussing with it. I like the colors though.



A Pair of Pansies

 

 

 

Here's another try at pansies. I thought maybe I would have better luck with a different paper so I used Arches 140 lb. hot pressed. It was a little tricky getting the paint to diffuse like it does on cold pressed but eventually I got used to it. It came out almost photorealistic with the smooth surface. Not sure if I like the hot pressed, but when I use the cold pressed again I'm going to try to be more creative and just let the watercolor paint do it's thing. I really have a hard time using my imagination and producing something more impressionistic. I find myself just reverting to my old realistic style most of the time. I probably need to take a workshop someday. 



Pansies

 

When I wrote the post title the first time, I wrote "painsies."  It must have been a subconscious slip of the fingers. I took a break from finishing my second painting of Emma and thought I would do something simple, like a pansy. Pansies are not as easy as they look, at least not for me. I wish I could do them as well as a painter I found on Daily Paintworks; her name is Tatsiana Mikhailova and her blog is http://tatsianaartstudio.blogspot.com/. This is another one to put on my re-do list.

 



"Did Someone Say Shopping?" WIP

 

 

Work in progress-I'm having a hard time with this one. I didn't get as good a likeness with the paint as I did with the sketch. I think she looks older. Also, in the photo the background is dark but I'm afraid I'd mess it up if I tried to darken it.  I might have to put this aside for a while and finish it later.



Emma Again - Sketch

I've been planning to do another painting of my granddaughter but took a little time to re-organize my painting space. It was getting a little difficult to squeeze into the area where I paint. I had to move some stuff to the attic that my son left in that room almost ten years ago when he left for Florida in 2004. He had planned to leave the day hurricane Ivan flooded out Carnegie. Fortunately, I live on a hill, but alot of his stuff never got packed onto the truck under the circumstances. I now have more elbow room and it's less distracting when I want to paint. I also watched an art video on drawing faces and that seemed to get me started on the sketch. I hadn't enjoyed drawing as much the last few years because I couldn't wait to get to the color. But after watching the videos, I realized that I needed some practice on faces and proportions. I also don't like the way she is holding her hand in the photo and I went through dozens of photos to find her holding her hand in a more pleasant position. Here's the preliminary sketch (I'm still working on the hand.)   



Old Sketch No. 2

I had trouble loading two images at the same time so here is the second one:



Old Sketches

In keeping with my original objective of posting some of my old work and while I'm on the subject of portraits, here are a couple of old sketches I did many years ago while I was in my early twenties. One is a sketch of Richard Burton (obviously I copied a photo) and another was of an acquaintance (old boy friend whose name I can't remember). While I was at Point Park, I used to sketch classmates before the class started, usually in profile because that was easier. One of the professors wanted me to do his portrait (I think it was a Dr. Buncher), but I had a lot of trouble getting a likeness. There were several of my classmates watching while I drew. At one point, I mentioned that I was having trouble getting his chin right and one of my classmates said,"No wonder, that's because he has two." So there may be quite a few of my portrait sketches out there if people kept them and the paper didn't disintegrate. 

Tutu and Tootsies

 

I don't know what possessed me to do a portrait when I haven't been painting for a while. I got some new pictures of my granddaughter and I couldn't resist. I wasn't sure what to do for the background; she was leaning up against a white louver closet door and sitting on brownish tile. I didn't want to get too detailed on the background, but not sure if this works.

Is there a method for painting a tutu? Should it be more detailed?