Jill Work in Progress # 2

I have brightened the hair a bit more. Also, believe it or not, I used Prismacolor Black Grape in the darker areas and it really works well. I am very happy with the results.

Now, a bit more work on the facial features and this portrait will be complete.

This is good news since I need to work on a new rush commission that just came in, as well as create a few new pieces for the art show at Williams in November.

I will not be sharing the new commission on here until it is finished and the recipient has the portrait delivered. It is a special birthday gift and I would hate to ruin the surprise.

Jill's Portrait - Work in Progress # 1

I still need to work on the face. Most of the rest of this portrait is pretty well completed.

This has been a difficult portrait to do because the original photo has so little contrast.

I have the pleasure of working on this today with my dear husband, Anthony, playing his guitar. My husband is an amazing fingerstyle guitarist/musician. He is working on some new pieces. It is very relaxing to work on art while listening to Anthony play.

Alexander is out with his friend, therefore he is not here to join in the musicality. Normally I have both of them to work to.

:)

Original Image

This is the original image I am using for the portrait of Jill. I have cropped it down to just her head and shoulders for the portrait.

Skin Tone Chart

Well, I worked on this for approx. 10 hours. It does not seem like much, but it really took that long.

My scanner is not working properly and I could not get a good clean scan of the chart. It looks a lot better in real life. I decided it was time to redo this chart (my original one fell apart from over-use and had not been replaced.

I am working on a tricky portrait of my friend, Jill. The reference photo is dark and has very little contrast (somewhat flat). It has been a real challenge to get the skin tone on this portrait so I created this chart to help me visualize the skin tone better. Ann Kullberg has a chart like this that she sells on her site. I used her colour suggestions for the skin tone chart. Too bad that Prismacolor's Deco Pink has been discontinued. I still have a few left, but will have to find a replacement when those are used up.

Keep your eyes on this blog for updates on Jill's portrait and the new pieces I will be working on. You can go to the my main website to get info on the upcoming shows. I will be posting information later today on the opening reception at William's Coffee Pub. Tirolese Jazz Quartet will be playing that night. It will be wonderful.

Prismacolor Chart of Coloured Pencils

I have spent the last few days working on a colour chart of Prismacolor pencils. I thought it would be handy to have a quick reference of each of the current colours I have on hand. This way, I can look quickly to find the exact colour I need, as I need it. It is time to get organized. I will be doing a skintone chart too.

This took a lot more time than I had anticipated. But, that is the story of my life. LOL

Having the pencils organized by colour and value is the next project, after the skintone chart.

I am planning on teaching again, soon. These are the first steps in getting the lesson plans organized. I am hoping to get some training soon, but I thought I would start getting organized in case that does not pan out as I hope.

I enjoy listening to audio books while I work. I just finished listening to The Soloist by Steve Lopez. It was quite a good book. Last night Anthony, our son and I were out to dinner at Ben Thanhs (a favourite Viet/Thai restaurant) and I was mentioning that I just finished listening to this book. Our son surprised me by not only having heard about, but knowing quite a bit about the story. He really amazes me sometimes.

I have to work on some things for the show at Williams coming up in November so stay tuned for works in progress and updates.