MOVING ON

 Something small - done two ways because I wasn’t that pleased with the first effort so changed it around…

A little stone bird garden ornament from the Extension Center gardens.  Painted on the Stonehenge Aqua hotpress block of paper I have… 10 x 14 sheet divided so 7 x 10 each  

WELL…

 I must be a glutton for punishment.  Or maybe I just think I can get better if I keep trying.  The 30days/30portraits in watercolor ended and I didn’t do some, ruined some, and did well on some.  Then I jumped right into a short class with the artist, Milena Guberinic, on portraits because I really liked the teaser she showed.  

So that’s done now.  The final one I watched her lesson, then just painted it my own way on hotpress paper using a black and white photo for reference.  Not unhappy with it.  

I hear other things calling but want to keep dipping into portraits once in a while…at some point I might be able to do family and friends…or not!!

FINALE!!

 The final two - finished.  Did not do all 30 portraits.  Some just didn’t speak to me and seemed like a lot of work for not much outcome (for me, personally).  But did most of them.  

If you get a chance and want to take some online courses, you cannot go wrong with Sktchy courses - the instructors are great and knowledgeable, fun and creative, and you will learn a lot, whether it’s portraits or landscapes or even Procreate courses.  

  

COMING TO THE FINSH LINE OF THE SKTCHY CHALLENGE

 

The teacher, Dritan Duro, always chooses such pretty models, whether they are male or female - the colors are warm and inviting and the model is attractive.  I enjoyed doing this one although it looks nothing like Dritan’s (I don’t know how he gets such bold, deep color without getting messes but he does - I think I need to watch him paint many more times to see just how much water he’s putting on his brush compared to how much pigment).  

And Liz Chaderton led us through this crazy colorful portrait - fun!

MY FAVORITE SO FAR

 Of all the paintings I’ve done in the Sktchy challenge of painting 30 portraits in 30 days, this is my favorite so far..

SOMETIMES THE PAINT JUST FLOWS

 After giving myself an extra month to complete the Sktchy challenge of 30 days/30 portraits (or whatever it’s called), I guess the pressure was off.  When the pressure is off and you aren’t trying to complete something every day, the paint just flows…

I am happy with both of these and have another drying that I am very happy about.  Yay!

And only a few more to do, because I am not painting the portraits I don’t feel inspiring to me, personally.  

Love her Afro!

Done with a base of Daniel Smith Lunar Earth with other colors added and darks added for volume.

And this one just makes me happy - it worked and I like that I stayed light and airy on the painting, making her blue eyes pop.  

  

STILL ON THE CHALLENGE BUT EXTENDED TO 60 DAYS

 

A COUPLE MORE - BEHIND BUT PAINTING AGAIN

 Again, did it my way first and then watched the video with instructor Liz Chaderton sharing her techniques and style, and did another.

Liz used only 2 colors for this portrait - Sap Green and Perylene Maroon.  I had both colors so used that in the second portrait.  Nice browns and you could move closer to maroon or closer to green, depending on what you wanted to do.

In both portraits, I added white gel pen to the hair to bring back the whites.  

The next one was a bit too hard-edged all around for me - almost a posterized style, taught by Charlotte Hamilton.  Not a style I would ever adopt, but I did mine like she taught.  

The interesting thing about taking these challenge courses is that you get to see several artists and how they work and paint, taking what you like and leaving behind what you don’t like or want to add to your own way of painting.