Absent!

I have been absent a bit lately.  I had a week long visit from a very dear friend who now lives in North Carolina.  We have a great time and I did not paint for that week.  I have done some painting since then though and also got my new camera!  Hurray!  A Nikon D5100 with two lenses: a 18-55MM and a 55-300MM.  Now I can get those great candid shots of folks to use as subject matter.  In fact the camera does so many different things that it will take me a while to really explore all that I can do with it.  Anyway, that is my birthday, anniversary and Christmas gift for this year and I couldn't be more pleased!

I have done a bit more work on this one of Brazos.  I was not liking how the clothing and hat seemed to not be a part of the whole, so I added some loose colors and strokes to the background as well as letting the colors overlap on his clothing and hat.  I like it better now. 

And more work on my sweet little shot of Freddie when he was four.  I really like the way this is turning out.  I want to do a bit more work on the background, add some richer colors to his hair and then call it finished.  I'm going to shock everyone and do a painting of how he looks now soon.  With this new camera, I have lots of motivation to get some new photos to use.

Hope you have all been well and are enjoying this marvelous early fall weather!

Freddie at four years old

Well, I can't even count how many times I have used this old photo of my son as subject matter.  Charcoal, pastel, graphite and at least four watercolors!  I love this shot of him.  He's now 43.  Guess I should get some current shots of him to use, huh?  Anyway, this is on Arches 300# cold press, quarter sheet.  I work mostly on quarter sheets especially for portraits.  Somehow those faces drawn on a half sheet look so overwhelming to me!  Huge!!

Freddie in high school - WIP

This is from a photo that was made during Freddie's senior year in high school.  Everything I have done of him has always been when he was a child, so this is a departure.  There is still alot of work to do but I'm pleased with the progress so far.

I am looking at new cameras and have settled on getting a Nikon D3100 for Christmas from my wonderful husband.  Everyone should have someone so supportive of their endeavors!  Not only do I need to be able to take better shots for posting on this blog and on Wet Canvas, I want to be able to take my own shots for reference material.  I have a really nice Olympus pocket camera that is wonderful to carry in my handbag everywhere.  However, it is really slow to use for capturing those fleeting expressions of people.  Takes forever for it to be ready to shoot again and by then the moment has passed.  Great for flowers etc., just not for candid people shots.  I plan to really study up on how to use the functions properly.  I've never had an SLR camera, so this will be a fun project. 

Thanks for reading!

Gift for Freddie

The painting that I posted on July 9 of Chandler became a gift for my son for his 43rd birthday, which is today.  43!!!  How did that happen?  Aren't I only 43 or so?

I have found time to paint this past week and will be posting some of that maybe tomorrow.  I worked on the portrait of Ted a bit more and made alot of progress on a painting of our grandson, Lucah.  These grandchildren that you see paintings of are now 14, 13 and 11 (Chandler, Gavin and Lucah respectively). I just love some of these little snapshots of when they were younger.

I'm also planning to do a painting of my husband Jim, that includes our first yorkie, Zoe.  Before I tackle the painting, I have been doing small practice paintings of Zoe but not with much luck.  I am having trouble doing a dog.  I can do them in pencil but watercolor is another story.  Geez!!!

Graphite portrait

I also love doing work in charcoal and graphite.  Here is one of my son, Freddie, when he was two years old.  Thanks for reading!