My Process: Part Four

I managed to warm up Jacob's face a little more today with a light wash of Alizarin Crimson. Then I laid similar washes for Molly's face. This area takes up almost half of the composition. So I worked with a bigger brush and worked wet-into-wet a section at a time. To avoid the demarkation lines left by watercolor as it dries next to a dry area, I wet more than what I was going to paint. Again, I kept the blue tints near her eyes and temples and added red to the cheeks, chin and nose. Once everything totally dries, I will begin adding the darks and the details of the face. (I'm resisting the use of a hair drier!!)

My Process: Part Three

At this point, I started laying washes down for the skin. I start with a yellow underpainting – establishing values and intended to give the overall color a warm tone.



Once that wash dries completely, I started working on Jacob's face. I mix a skin tone of Aurelean yellow, Alizarin Crimson and a touch of Windsor Blue. Then I lay that color in as a wash – lifting highlights out as it dries. After that dries completely, I add more value by putting in another wash – this time, adding more blue around the eyes and temples and adding more red for the cheeks and chin.



At this point, I think Jake is a bit too "gold", so I am going to let this dry and "warm" it up a little more tomorrow.

My Process: Part Two

When I paint, I will typically use frisket to mask the foreground while I lay in washes for the background. This time, I decided not to use frisket. To keep the color out of the foreground image, I used a wet-into-wet technique. First, I laid down a wash of clean water in the area I was going to paint only. Then I applied paint before the water dried. Some of the fun of wet-into-wet is watching the colors mingle on the paper. Sometimes, you can even help the process along and tilt the paper to affect the direction of the pigment. I knew I wanted the background to be just color and I wanted it to be predominantly cool. So I used a lot of Windsor blue. To make sure I didn't reactivate any of the pigment I put down on subsequent washes, I waited for each wash to dry completely before applying the new one. This method of layering color over the other is called glazing. So after the the first washes of yellow and blue dried, I went over everything with another wash of blue.



Next step, I begin working on the skin tones!

My Process: Part One

I thought I'd try something I'd never done before: I'm going to document my process as I am working on a painting. I realized that I do not have any "in progress" images of any of my work. Not to mention, this should keep me on a schedule to complete this portrait. So, to start, what I am working on is a portrait of my two children. I took a number of pictures of them, as well as sifted through numerous other ones, to find what I wanted to use. I ended up using these two photos:



I thought about explaining why I picked these particular ones, but I think I would like the final painting to speak for itself. If anyone knows my kids, I hope they can see my reasoning. Put simply, I found images that not only reflected their personalities, but also their relationship as brother and sister. From these photos, I joined them in Photoshop to work on cropping and composition:



I didn't want all the stuff in the background to take away from the composition, so I blurred it. Next, I printed it out and began a sketch:



After much fine tuning, I scan the drawing and enlarge it on the computer. Then I print it out in "tiles" and piece it all together. This portrait is larger than most of my work – about 20" x 15". Looks like it's time to break out the big brushes!



Next, I get my watercolor board and transfer the printout to the board using graphite paper. I used to use carbon paper, but that stuff's pretty permanent. The graphite paper's like using light pencil – bold enough to see, and easy to erase and lift later.



And here's where I stand now: A board that is masked on the edges with painter's tape and the drawing enlarged and transferred. Next step: the beginning washes!!

There's a Dinosaur in My Backyard: Part 2

Well, I'm just all over the place as far as painting goes. In the midst of working on a portrait piece I will be entering in a few art contests, I decided to take a break and finish the 3rd illustration from the "There's a Dinosaur in My Backyard" series. Here is the sketch I did a few months ago:



And here's the final painting:



To recap – the main character has made friends with the T-Rex and he takes her for a ride. This one is my favorite, well, because it's the "pay-off." But don't get me wrong, I don't read the last pages of books are watch endings to movies I haven't seen. Anyway, it was fun to paint. Maybe it's because painting a dino was new to me. Maybe it was the fact that the subject matter was happy and festive. Either way, I had a lot of fun doing this and don't know if I can resist doing the other two before I start back up on the portrait. Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Lost and Found

Back in '98, I got a bug to do a Skywalker family portrait. I hadn't painted Star Wars before – I just practiced with this piece:



It was "down and dirty" really quick and really small. Plus I wasn't happy with how I rendered Leia's face. So I worked harder on a larger one – carefully picking out the best reference photos and thinking a lot more on composition. Well, I worked so hard on this piece that I actually painted it twice. The first one really had me frustrated: the glazing was not what I wanted and left a lot of mottling on Leia's face and I didn't like the deep shadow in Luke's face. I must admit, that I was so unhappy with it that I tore it up. But recently, as I was looking through my old art, I came across the pieces to this "second draft." So I scanned them and pieced it all back together just to see what I discarded. Turns out I was missing a piece – so that is why the bottom corner is missing. I found it very interesting to revisit this painting, even if by chance. I'm glad I restarted. I much prefer the final version to this one. So, here is the reassembled Skywalker family portrait – the "second draft" on the top. The final version is on the bottom. I think that if there was one thing I wished I would have kept, it would be the background texture in the first one.

Time Flies When It's Close to the Holidays!

My my. How long has it been? I think it's this time of year that teacher are just gnawing at the bit to make it to Christmas break. The students are starting to "check out" and we have to be sure that we don't or there will be utter chaos! But in the midst of benchmarking, rehearsals, tree decorating, stage decorating, grades, and the number of other activities our children at other schools are involved in; there are those bright moments – the little gems that make it all worth it. It could be a student proud that his or her artwork was on display; or it could be the fruition of weeks of rehearsals that result in a magnificent show of talent. However small they may seem, they are the world to me as a teacher. It's the mark that progress is being made – that the children's esteem is a step stronger, their courage is raised, their talent is nurtured. And through it all, if I helped make a step forward, toward the positive, then it was worth the minor frustrations. It is fascinating to watch a child grow. It is heartwarming to watch them grow strong.

Here's a pic of the stage as it was produced by myself and the Art Club. Couldn't have been happier with – and for – these kids! Scroll down to compare to my sketch! Until next time!