So I tried this one again and still could not paint it like the teacher! Ha ha. Oh, well, really worked it and changed it and lifted and added and put on some gouache and…calling it Sadness.  She looks very sad and pensive and pondering something deeply.   Decided it was time to move on.  And ruined the next painting completely.  This is “okay” and it is the second version after tearing up the first effort.  I think I hit a bump there for a few days for some reason.  I know a lot of artists say just continue to paint all the time and don’t let bad days ..read more

 I was rolling right along with the 30 Faces/30 Days Lessons from Sktchy and then…I got stuck.  I did not follow the teacher’s instructor well and just went and did my own thing and thought, okay, that’s okay…but I wanted to try it her way so did it again and…well some days are diamonds and some days are stones. So I started with the first version…not bad but nothing like the one the instructor did (which I will show at the end to show you just how different it is). Then kept working on it and working on it and walking away and coming back and thinking, just a bit more and…well…the l ..read more

 Did you see the eclipse?  Did you travel to see it or was it in your area of the US?  If you missed it in the US, another will be around in 2044. We did not have total coverage here but about 90%.  Good enough.  I’m not that crazy about travelling and spending money and time on 3 minutes of eclipse so stayed home ..read more

 A few more of the portraits.  Each instructor picks his/her own muse and then does it in an individual way.  Some want to do monochromatic paintings, some stress the design of light and dark, some just go in with colors.   One of my favorite teachers is Dritan Duro.  He explains things so well and you can follow along fairly easily with him without getting lost.   He usually picks a straight-forward portrait but an interesting face to paint.  His version is much more bold and colorful than mine but I’m not unhappy with my version. Kyle Legaspi picks ..read more

 Started the latest 30 Days/30 Portraits challenge on Sktchy.com and here is a few I did.  This is just 2 days.  I did the first one totally wrong - supposed to do a fine line around the drawing and then paint but my line was too thick and sepia and just didn’t work…so I did a lot of scrubbing back and reworking so it looked nothing like the teacher’s work.  The second one, I learned from my impulsive mistakes and mine is more like the teacher - but, as always, two people never paint exactly the same (especially since I don’t care what colors the teacher uses, I use my own ..read more

 I signed up for a 30 Days/30 Portraits (all in watercolor) again with Sktchy.com.  They offer great courses and this will continue all week with different instructors.  Looking forward to it because the last time I did this - back in October 2022, I learned a lot about watercolor portraits and I know I’ll learn more this time.  So the madness continues in a different way through April! Ha ha Until then, here is a little ginkgo study.  Does anyone know why botanical artists never put shadows under their work?  I put shadows here and then realized that they do not ..read more

 I had forgotten so many sketches I’d done…and then pulled out my favorites.  Here is another and the painting that was inspired from it.   ..read more

 After watching another video on gouache portraits, did this one.   The model came from a photo on the Museum App that the Sktchy folks use all the time.  Interesting face.  Then added the bird alongside with the back becoming his shoulder.  (The teacher put a crane going through his head and in the upper right but I did not like that at all).  The bird is from a photo from Sweetie.   So - first step is the watercolor underpainting. Then the gouache over the underpainting (did not add to the great white heron except to bring back the highlights with white ..read more

From a life drawing open session long long ago…Just a sketch done in about 1 1/2 hours, I think, with conte crayons. And what came from the sketch…in my mind, a bit of fun with the hair…and then ..read more

 Just a few more done while watching online lessons. This handsome doggie started with a watercolor underpainting and I liked it more - went too dark on this and too warm.  I might try it again more blue and grey and softer colors.   The watercolor underpainting - should have left it here but still learning about gouache and how it works.   I like this, but it’s just a section of the face so…hope I have learned more about facial structure and shapes from all the watercolor portraits I did back when.  This was done in a freebie quick lesson from Artefa ..read more