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 Ham ..read more

 Finally back to the Sktchy challenge I signed up for - 30 days + 30 portraits turned into 60 days but that’s okay.  Some I am doing twice, especially when I do one before watching the instructional video! Teacher for the first one was Kyle Legaspi and the second version was done as she did her’s (the first one was done in my own way prior to watching the video/lesson).  The next painting was done and Ana Vivian was the instructor.  Not crazy about it and won’t do it again.  It seem the teachers are trying to come up with new and interesting aspects of painting the por ..read more

 Well, I usually get into ruts when I’m not in a challenge, workshop or anything but this RUT has got me.  I began with the Sktchy.com challenge of 30 faces/30 days and was doing well the first few, then really struggled with a portrait that beat me…and then somehow I had a change in my mindset and I was thinking “I can’t do this.”  So…gave it some time.  Decided I could give myself 2 months to do the challenge instead of just 30 days.  And did a few more and then…another roadblock where I could not paint the portrait like the instructor again no mater how many do-over ..read more

 Two more from the Sktchy challenge of 30 faces in 30 days…I have decided that I really need to give myself 60 days to do this and will just do these as I feel like I can do them, without the struggle so much in the past few days.  Afterall, this is supposed to be a learning experience but also not a stressful one ..read more

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