Class 11 PYH&S 2018 -Self Portrait As Child

This class is a practice in using different media on different surfaces for different effects, with Roslyn Pratt, and is class eleven in the Paint Your Heart and Soul 2018 course hosted by Olga Furman (see sidebar for link).

I started this painting, and this post, in 2018, and I only put the progress pictures and class name, because I was planning to finish both while the class was still fresh. Things didn't work out that way though, and here I am trying to finish the draft without finishing the painting first. Truth is, I don't know when I will get back to to it, but hopefully, I will at some point.

Anyway, the lessons are all done in a mixed media sketchbook, and the final step is in about a 9" x 12" book. Also, I don't always follow the teacher's exact instructions, so these may, or may not, reflect what she instructed. I often read, or watch, the material, and then do the project without referring back to the material, so at the end I often find that I skipped a step or missed something, but that's ok, as long as I learned something!

Sketching little faces and trying different colors on with watercolors...

The photo of me at three years old that I used for reference, and no, I didn't cut my own bangs!

A not so good pencil sketch for practice...

Practice with two colors of watercolors, no likeness at all, but that's ok, I learned some stuff...

I toned the paper for the final portrait, I think, in burnt sienna and yellow ochre acrylics. I don't know why. It just seemed like a good idea at the time. I used to hate acrylics, until I discovered the open media acrylics by Golden, which don't dry as fast. Now I love acrylics and they are what I use most of the time for everything.

The first undercoat was too bright, so I toned it down with some blue, then sketched in the figure, which I'm not too good at, in white.

This is where it's been for over a year after a couple or three of layers of paint. No likeness at all, but it's just barely started, and still has quite a ways to go. There will be much adjusting when I do resume work on her, and that is why I took the course, to get better at portraits.

I am learning a lot from many teachers, about many different things! It's a great adventure, full of highs and lows, this creative thing!