Katherine

I enjoyed using the black pencil on the warm toned paper at our model session Tuesday evening. Katherine was agreeable to enduring a standing pose for us, which was a treat. I liked the vantage point sitting below her perched on the model stand. 

Beatrice and Clementine

Here are my preliminary drawings of these two sisters in which I'm studying the values before jumping into color with their oil portraits. Look for Clementine's painting later this week!

"How to Rock"

 I have to share my talented friend, Meg Haston's latest release. Over the holidays, I finally found time to finish the wonderful read and just couldn't be more proud of her. I was also honored to have a hand in the book with my illustration. Check out page 132! From what I hear, Meg's hard at work on the second book in the series and you can even check out the show on Nickelodeon in the meantime.

Portrait Intensive

This past weekend I held a workshop with wonderful students, models and inspiration all around. We had a great time. Above is my painted sketch of Nicole and the group hard at work is pictured below.

Georgia Women's Show

Happy New Year! My hiatus in posting has not been indicative of my work ethic in the studio. I promise! However, I am newly resolved to regularly update 'Painted Lately' to keep those interested informed and keep myself accountable in reporting to my easel daily.

This morning, I braved thunderstorms and Atlanta traffic to deliver 'Carlo' to be shown in the Virginia Avery Memorial 3rd Biennial "Reflections" Exhibition, celebrating Georgia Women Artists and sponsored by the National League of American Pen Women, Atlanta Branch. That's quite a title, isn't it?

If you are in the area, the juried exhibition runs January 21st - March 1st and is being held at Mable House Arts Center

Victoria

This drawing was done with graphite and conte pencil on toned paper. Victoria modeled for us Tuesday evening.

The Portrait in Watercolor

Weekend before last, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Robert Liberace's workshop in Raleigh. I had a wonderful time per usual in Rob's classroom. Day one, we started out working in graphite and my sketches are pictured. Watching Rob demo again after some time, I saw that I should try to animate my lines a bit more. I also hatched more than shaded as I built up tone.  Day Two, we worked monochromatically in watercolor and ink as we eased into the wet media. We started with a graphite drawing and then began adding washes. By Day Three, we felt a little more confident to start playing with color.  I don't often work with watercolor, so I need to work on my control of it, but it was so much fun! To top the weekend off I won the lottery to bring home one of Robert's demos! How lucky am I? It is the final watercolor below of the model, Charis, adorned with scarf and hat. I really enjoyed the efficiency of the washes in achieving the values quickly and I plan to keep experimenting.

  

  

Carley and Josh

                         

Tuesday night model sessions have been lots of fun lately. I particularly enjoyed 

            focusing on the portrait last night.  Sometimes the figure

                can be overwhelming in the few short hours we have to work. 

     

Ford

My first dog portrait in awhile. It was fun to make the switch from skin to fur for this painting. Ford's parents wanted the colors amped up a bit and for the portrait to have a looser feel.

St. Christophers

Another gift for a sweet couple soon to be married. This project had special meaning because it is the church that I grew up in.