Youngster enrapt

Here's a painting from the Painting Friends forum portrait challenge. The ref is by luisrock62 on morguefile, thanks!

This kid was looking rather jaundiced for much of the time on my easel, but I think he's recovered... Practising skin tones and trying to keep loose...

There was much debate about whether out portrait subject is a little girl or boy (hence my non-committal title, lol)... I reckoned a little girl, but changed my mind while painting him. What do you think?

Watercolour, quarter sheet.

Old man winter

Well, moving on from my getting acquainted sketch, here's what I've ended up with:

Watercolour, gouache and ink, using clingfilm; quarter sheet. Ref photo by bboomerindenial on morguefile.

The reference photo for this painting was supplied for the January challenge in a small portrait group I belong to, and was in black and white, the idea being that we could apply our own colour without being influenced by the colour in the original. This is where I ended up. I'd like to say that flashes of inspiration brought me here, but in reality my thought processes were more akin to continental drift...

I may well try a series of these, one for each season, what do you think?

Edit: this painting was featured on the RedBubble homepage, 1st Feb 2011 - well chuffed!

sketch

Here's a "getting acquainted" sketch - thanks Linda, perfect description ;-) - for my next painting. Ref photo by bboomerindenial on morguefile, thanks!

Did this in my little sketchbook, 8" by 6". I have a few possibilities in mind here, but I think I'm going to try a 'Jack Frost/Old Man Winter' approach first off, and I think I may be getting the clingfilm out...

2010 top 10

Well, I've just been over at Crystal Cook's fabulous blog, where she has her top 10 paintings of 2010 - all beautiful paintings! She's suggested we all do the same, so here are my top 10 from what I've managed this year...

In no particular order...

Emily, watercolour, 11 by 15"

Her watchful place, watercolour, 11 by 15"

Charcoal portrait, A4

When I was a child, acrylic, 10 by 14"

If the wind changes direction, acrylic 10 by 14"

That basset look, watercolour, 11 by 15"

The glance, watercolour, 8 by 10"

Tom's old spot, watercolour, 8 by 10"

Faithful, watercolour, 8 by 10"

Best friend, watercolour, 8 by 10"

Have a happy and creative New Year - all the best for 2011!

Her watchful place

So here's the finish of the WIP posted earlier. I added another couple of thin washes, including a warm yellow to warm up the left hand side of the face, which has a nice glow to it. I think I should probably stop fiddling with it now...

Watercolour, quarter sheet (11" by 15"). Reference by babasteve on Flickr under creative commons - thanks!

Emily

I painted this one for my cousin Emily, 21 years old today :-)

What a great model :-)


Quarter sheet (11 by 15").


Happy birthday Em!

Her watchful place WIP

Here's a work in progress, another portrait painting for the online portrait group I belong to. I'll post the finished image later (if it ever gets finished, you never know!), but as I remembered to take some pics along the way this time, I thought I'd share them here. Colours used were scarlet lake, new gamboge, lemon yellow, ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, payne's grey, sepia, indigo.

 I started off with a drawing, using a grid to help me place the features and to speed up the drawing process. A good drawing is an absolute must I reckon. I then put in some initial washes - a warm yellow on the left, a cool yellow on the right, and a blue wash for some areas of the face, hair and surrounds, all according to what I reckoned I could see in the reference photo.

 I let the washes dry completely (this is where I often run into trouble with watercolour, being impatient and diving in too soon!). I've added some red/orangey and purple tones to the hair and ear shadow.

Again on dry paper, I've put in a reddish wash across the face, defining the areas of shadow and light. For the neck, which is pretty much entirely in shadow and darker than the face, I've gone with a purple wash. For the highlights, I either avoid painting the area altogether, or I use kitchen paper to blot away the colour where it's not needed, which actually produces a nice soft gradation for the edges, good for portraits.

More thin washes and blotting of highlights, and defining of shadows, under the eyes for example.

Yet another thin layer or two on the face, plus I added the background colour.

More layers to deepen the skin tones and blotting of highlights and pale areas on the face, and I've added texture to whatever it is she's hiding behind (something wooden, anyway). At this point it was looking a bit blotchy, but not to worry, it can be fixed with more washes...

 ...so more washes, drying in between, to smooth out the blotchiness a bit. This is the point I've left it at, though I think it still looks a bit blotchy, and I'm wondering whether I can go deeper with the skin tones without it getting overworked. But she does have a bit of a ragamuffin feel as is, so maybe I'll leave it...





Watercolour, 11" by 15". Reference photo by babasteve on Flickr, under Creative Commons.