Portrait Play n Experiments x 4

 Some of the portrait experiments I've been playing with the last couple of weeks in my 7" x 10" sketchbooks! So much fun! I loved watching the characters evolve!

I love this one. She is from my imagination, and I sketched her in pencil, then added watercolor over several days, as she told me what she wanted. The red hair is an homage to my paternal grandmother, Laura Lue, and an older cousin, whom I adored as a child. I miss them both very much. The shadow pattern is one I used from a Vogue black and white magazine photo of Lady Gaga that I found striking. As usual, she taught me a lot.

This one, also from my imagination, was sketched with a pencil, and I added Indigo and burnt sienna watercolors for the base layers, but I liked so much this way that I left it as is. Another character!

I used the black/white Vogue magazine photo of Lady Gaga as inspiration for this one in India ink, although I didn't strive for a likeness. I like the shadow pattern, and I added a bit of watercolor on the lips and eyes. The background in the photo was actually gray and her skin was gray tones, but I like the black/white, so I've left it, at least for now.

This one is in acrylics, and finishes up a sketchbook. It is a second attempt at a painting inspired by the Expressive Portraits class I took, but I didn't re-watch the video. Instead, I did it from memory and imagination. I loved the process and wanted to try a second one. I did follow the teacher's suggestion of using my fingers to apply the paint, and I only used two colors, Indigo and green-gold, plus white. My fingers were too big for the really small places, so I used a brush to fine tune those places. She is growing on me every day, and again, I learned much from her.

We went to the clinic for our six month check-up this morning, so hopefully the blood work comes back ok, and we have that over with for six months. We didn't go on to the next town over today, so we got back home by ten-thirty, ate breakfast, and hubby weed-ate the yard. I, on the other hand, since I slept very little last night, took a three-hour nap. 

So far today, I haven't sketched at all or painted on the elephant I started a couple of days ago, but I have written two blog posts, so that's something creative, and there's still time before bed! So we'll see... That is if the series we're just starting binge watching isn't that good. I can't think of the name, but it stars Patrick Dempsey, and it's a murder mystery. It looks promising, so I'm going to stop and pay attention to it before I lose the plot.

Take care, and keep creating!