The River Spree after Swimm

Here is my mixed media (acrylic and oil) rendition of John Swinn's The River Spree in Berlin. I tried to use some of Cape Cod School technique. I probably should have waited to try such a complicated piece when just learning to put the shapes together. I just couldn't resist trying this beautiful landscape of Swinn's. I want to try it again after I have worked more on the technique and then do a comparison.

"Spring Hat" revisited

I finally broke down and added some much needed highlights my last April's "Spring Hat." Sometimes it's so difficult to revisit a work but in this case I knew sooner or later I would do what I am some of my fellow artists have encouraged me to do. Thanks to Connie for reminding me to be more conscious of the impact of the light especially on a portrait like this. The difficulty here lied in the fact that model photo had the the eyes almost completely in shadow and I wanted to change it. It's so difficult, if not impossible, to make up light and it seemed to me to be so synthetic to make to attempt. However, since I had changed the light on the eye are in the original work I was rather committed to doing it right and I hadn't done so. Here is my attempt to do it correctly if that's possible. I had to change the highlights in much of the face in order to balance things out and although it took me most of the day I think it was worth doing. I'm pleased with the result although I wouldn't want to have to repeat it.

Katie

Here's my latest venture into the world of colored pencils (Prismacolor Colored Pencils). I found that I very much enjoy working with them although they are quite time consuming. The end result is worth the time. I really enjoyed this one because of the practice I got to with blending to get l specific colors not in a single pencil. The most enjoyment however, came because it was done a very special person in my life; my cousin, Jan. Jan is like a sister to me and we share so many childhood memories; some of them being our love for dogs. This one's for you Jan.

Cowgirl in New Hat (Canvas 20 X 26) Acrylic

Finally finished this one. I really tried to reve up the lighting in this one by following my friend, Connie's suggestions. There were so many interruptions in between setting and really want to get back to working in the moment and finish in one setting. My daughter was the model for this one and she keeps wanting me take a break from portraiture by doing a few landscapes. That is my next plan.

"The Gift"

Here's a graphite using a photo of my brother and nephews as the model. I wanted to emphasize the package under Zach's arm to convey the feeling on brother and father relationship. I may colorize it with colored pencils as I originally planned. Thought I would post it up to this point in order to see the difference this addition may make.

"Brenna" 11" x 14" blended graphite & charcoal

Here's another portrait in which I worked on blending graphite and charcoal. I used my niece, Brenna's graduation picture as a model as I thought it lended itself nicely to the lights and darks I wanted to work on in . Also, I loved the pose against the tree. I'm afraid I fell quite short in capturing her lovely smile and the sparkle of her eyes. I really worked on the light here. My friend and fellow aritist, Connie who recently visited my little studio was kind enough to give me some direction on how I could improve on my use of light. I tried to put Connie's advice into practice in this one and I believe it really helped. Much thanks, Connie ! I continue to plan to venture out and do landscape. I recently purchased a French eisel which is made to do pleine aire work. I have only to come up with the nerve to try it.

Practicing form

I have been practicing different examples of form. I wanted to try something different and these exercises gave me a variety of challenges. Keeping proportions within reason are particularly difficult for me.