Time off

I've decided to take the winter off from painting classes. Its become so cold and nasty here in Ohio, so very early in the season. I hate to traipse around in the dark, cold, slippery evening to go to class by myself. So I plan to do more stuff on my own. Perhaps I will take some workshops later on. I will continue to work on the Different Strokes challenges, as I am really enjoying these.

Last night, as I sat on my butt in front of the boob-tube, I got out my sketchpad and markers to start working on a plan for the portrait that Karin sent me for the current challenge. I like using the markers as you can't erase and you have to simplify. I have no idea who this gal is, but she is also painting my portrait, so it will be great fun in the end to see what each of us have done.

I did the top right sketch first. Quick and easy. I like it, but it looks nothing like the gal. The next one was the upper left. Looks more like a young Bill Clinton than the young lady in my photo! Sorry!!?! Why are noses so hard to draw??? I tried drawing just a detached nose (in the middle left)....no good... I then did the lower right. Not bad, but still - that nose!! So then I tried just using a pencil for the lower left. A bit more refined but the eyes are too close together cause I was cramped on space....
I was too chicken to use my new watercolor/sketch journal book for these sketches. Hated to waste the nice watercolor paper. Maybe I need to buy one that is just sketch paper.....Well, it all takes practice and I have plenty of time to work it out. There are several new surfaces (both for watercolor and pastels) that I want to use this time for the final portrait, so I plan on doing multiple paintings and will see which works best. I will post each experiment here and give you a review of the surface.

I do notice that I seem to prefer my work to look more like an illustration instead of a fine art painting. Maybe I need to work harder on that technique.