Sarah

Sarah.

I like to name my pieces. Even the little owls often have names.

With Sarah, she isn't perfect but she's an excellent start to a style I'm exploring. It's a mix of papermaking, collage, and faces. I have a long way from being where I want to be, but like I said. A solid start.

And now that I've finished the first one, I need to review a few DVDs to strengthen my technique. Clearly I'm far off from being a great portrait artist. But through constant practice, I can feel myself getting better. (yay!)

DVDs I need to review:
Jean Pederson's Wet Glazing:
Jean Pederson is a watercolor artist but she approaches the face like I'd like to with a series of washes. Also it's be good for me to see her draw a face.

Anne Bagby's The Grunge Book
Anne Bagby's third DVD is very different from her previous two. The third one isn't technique focused but rather project focused. But one things I really like about it is you see her draw a complete face. We edited very little out of the process for people who really wanted to see her put down every line. I'm ready to watch her put down every line. Drawing can feel like magic, but someone had to sculpt that face. With Anne Bagby, I can see her actually do it.

Lessons to Learn:
I should start with larger pieces of hair for the under layer. Large swaths read better.

I also need to glue down the bottom ones and work up. It feels better to have the top layers overlapping the bottom layers. That wasn't painfully clear until part way through the process.

Faces

I'm working on faces, and so far I've been trying to do at least 15 minutes a day (a la Anne Bagby.) I'm not yet where I want to be but oh how you can see progress if you work consistently.

Yes, I have a long ways to go, but it's fun to start playing with facial planes (so much learning to do) and pattern. I'm trying to incorporate fun elements into the more potentially frustrating elements. For example, I really need to keep working on the drawing and the painting of the face. That is fun but I have to fight through my own emotions about my current ability.

Pattern on the other hand is completely fun. There is no judgment. If I mess up I don't take it personally or as a verdict on my potential. So as I move forward with faces I'm trying to do both.

This is headband girl. I haven't named her yet beyond that. I'm glad that I started to try and add depth to her face instead of a flat face. This is one of those parts that really forces me through my own anxieties about learning to paint. As with most of the art I do, it's all in the value range of 1-4, but that is something that will get easier as I become more confident.

Bouquet Attempt 1

I'm working on learning to paint three main themes: Owls, portraits, and flowers.

The learning curve on all of them is pretty steep, but I'm slowly crawling my way up it.

I ended up destroying this painting. I really liked the image I have above the jump. Unfortunately, I knew it wasn't finished if it had no background. I liked the shape of the bouquet. I learned to put down greens first in former projects and I felt like the greens with red flowers was a success. Darn the background.

Glazing

Golden recently discontinued it's glazing line.

"What glazing line?" is what you might be asking. Exactly. And you're not alone.  I didn't know about Glazing until Anne Bagby's first DVD, Paper, Pattern & Glazing. Unless I was at a fine art store, no one I talked to at hobby stores (even the ones selling Golden products) had ever heard of glazing liquids.

But glazing liquids are amazing! And as I get to know my own process of working more and more, I've decided that I want to use the handy chart Golden supplied (http://www.goldenpaints.com/products/color/glazes/glaze.php) and make some of my own. Anne Bagby uses Aslphaltum. It's a warm glaze.

I might also try Slate, Sea Foam Green, and Yellow Ochre. Or I might take already transparent colors that I love and mix up a bottle of them with a bit more transparency.