Back to Watercolor Portraiture

I've spent some time this last week finishing the above portrait of Dani to enter into the Missouri Watercolor Society's International Show and then in a sudden spur I painted 3 dog portraits in two days which I posted on Instagram. It's been a fun switch between working on sketches for another children's book. They're different forms of art requiring different parts of my brain.

I can't choose just one to focus on.

A Month of Portraits (August)

During the month of August, I decided I'm going to paint one watercolor portrait per day. I've been posting them on my public Facebook page and just realized I forgot to put them on my blog so here are my first four portraits in August...children so far but I've got a few adults in the mix.

Watercolor Self-Portrait

I really wanted to paint today and this happened sort of spontaneously. There are several watercolor portrait artists who I greatly admire and who have and continue to influence me. One is Roberta Carter Clark. She is an amazing portrait artist who is comfortable working in just about any medium. I love her watercolors and was going to copy one she had in her book Painting Vibrant Children's Portraits. Instead I decided to just try to emulate the style which isn't far off from the way I paint but lately it seems I've gotten back to being tighter and I want to get back to being looser and letting the watercolor do it's thing. It's a test of willpower to mix up a puddle of paint, lay it down and then let it dry without going back in! 

Portrait Swap

I teamed up with Mark Satchwill, a watercolor portrait artist who I have known for several years through some online groups for EBSQArt's annual portrait swap. I posted his a couple of weeks ago and here is the one he painted of me. This is actually the first watercolor portrait I have of myself. Didn't he do a great job?

EBSQArt Annual Portrait Swap

This is my painting of Mark Satchwill for the EBSQArt.com annual portrait swap. Mark is also a watercolor portrait artist and we've been in a few online groups together. You can see his art at http://www.marksatchwill.com/.

Missouri Watercolor Society Invitational Show

I just found out that my painting Button Pusher (22 x 15) won an honorable mention at the Missouri Watercolor Society Invitational Show in Columbia, MO.  It's kind of exciting!

Portrait of Don and Jeanne

I just finished this portrait of my friends. It measures 12 x 20.

Susan - Finished Watercolor Portrait

Here is the finished watercolor of Susan, my sister. I thought I messed it up but a couple of days away from it and I realize it's not bad. And watercolor is forgiving. I think I lifted the mouth at least twice and it still looks pretty good to me.

"Susan" Watercolor Portrait Work in Progress

I'm using Arches 140 lb hot press paper to take advantage of the fun and looseness it creates. It's much easier to have a loose, splashy watercolor on hot press.  Every time I use it I wonder why I don't paint on it more?  10 x 8

Watercolor Portrait Sketch

This is a watercolor sketch of my friend and fellow artist,  Peter Yesis. Several of us got together a few weeks ago to paint and after lunch I started this quick portrait of Peter while he was working on his painting. I only got about half way with a sketch and a wash so I snapped a picture with my camera so I could finish this at home. My photo was really blurry which is good and bad. You can't be real fussy about the details because you can't SEE them but at the same time...you know what I mean. ;) Go check out Peter's blog "Daily Painting Practice". He's a fantastic oil painter and in his blog, he chronicles all of his ups, downs and in betweens as he pursues his craft.

Watercolor Portrait - John

After a couple not quite successfulpaintings, I finally hit it right this weekend with this portrait of my friend John. I'm calling this "Winner" (I think he'll be finding that out here) because I took this after he won first place for one of his beautiful 3-D wood pieces at our art club's annual art show and also because I think he's pretty special and a winner in my eyes.

Ginger

Ginger is a fellow artist and unbeknownst to her, I took her picture while we were at our annual art show reception in early October. Along with the casual yet sophisticated pose, I love that I could include the paintings and ribbons in the background to help tell the story of her career as an artist and the many awards she has won.

Family of Four

This is my latest portrait commission and the most faces I've done to date in one painting. Handsome bunch, aren't they?
Approx. 12 x 14

Missy & Emma

This is for my friend, Missy, who I know loves her baby very much!. I love the pictures where she's kissing Emma and I wanted to try and capture that special moment between the two of them.
5 x 7

Pretty Smiles

This is a recent portrait commission. I think these girls look like models. Aren't they pretty?

8.5 x 10 inches watercolor on Arches cold press