Still Playing Around

I spent five hours at the studio today. First, I revised the picture below. The difference from last week's posting is that I cropped it by cutting off the right side. (The blank right side is no longer part of the painting - sorry the photo is not better.) I also added the indication of a face. I used pastels to make some of the highlights and shadows more pronounced

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Then, I finished the picture at the right. When I started with this one, the photo reference I used was of a model from the Springmaid workshop. She was a very, very heavy woman. I decided to put her on a diet. Last week, I had painted her in gouache. I was just not very happy with the flat look of the medium - so, today, I added highlights on her hair, shoulder, and arm, and put in darker shadows on her back. I used pastels - lots more fun

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Next, I did the picture above.  It has a water-color base with pastels on top.  I can tell that I am getting a little more comfortable with making lights lighter and darks darker.  The overall painting is not as light as the photograph looks.


Finally, I started a new pastel painting of an older woman.  Hopefully,  I'll finish it on Monday - just in time for another post before heading to Atlanta for the National Portrait Society's Annual Convention.