Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Myrna's Workshop, Installment 2

"Quiet Beauty"
Profile painting
14" x 19"
Watercolor on Tyvek

"Baby Bob"
Child portrait
14" x 16"
Watercolor on paper

We completed our 5-day workshop today. I believe I made some progress. Of course, drawing is all about seeing, and in the case of portraits, about knowing structure so you can apply what you know.

"Quiet Beauty" was my profile portrait. Myrna pointed out ways to check relationships, and also talked about eye structure. I always wonder how many times I have to be told these things before they become a part of what I know. I chose to do this piece on Tyvek. We had critique at 3:00 and it was fun to see the results of our work. I was pleased when Myrna said she thought this was the best drawing she had seen me do, and over the past couple of years, she's seen quite a few. Myrna created a slide show of profile paintings.

Today, Myrna's morning demo focused on painting small children. They are born with adult-sized eyes, but the rest of the facial structure is infantile, so feature placement is different. There is more forehead above the eyes. She also pointed out that light, transparent colors say child. Children are very rosy, so she used lots of rose on her painting. When doing the eyes, do not close the bottom lid with a line. She works quite wet on watercolor paper to achieve softness. I chose to paint Bob as a baby. The photo is part of a collage of family photos that include Bob and his two daughters, when each were 18 months old.

Myrna said I had done a great job on the drawing. She suggested a better approach to adding the shadow colors on the lower face. She glazes single colors in layers rather than mixing the shadow color on the palette. I want to paint this piece again, but I want to create a full sheet with Bob and his two girls from the family photos. I am always struck by the distinctive shape of their mouths and full cheeks. I will work on a design. You can compare baby Bob to grown up Bob here , done in profile.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mary, These ARE WONDERFUL! I really like "Quiet Beauty"! I agree with Myrna, this is one of my favorite that you've done. It shows what's special about you as an artist too!

FitFoodieMegha said...

That is so nice Mary! You are so gud in portrait too..You are a wonderful artist as well as human being.
Graphite Pencil Sketch: Rajasthani Woman Portrait

Mary Paquet said...

Peggy, thanks so much for your support. Quiet Beauty looks so simple, yet I worked a long time to get the piece scaled up to a large size and get the features correct.

Megha, thanks so much for checking in.

Anonymous said...

These are wonderful Mary. I too absolutely love Quiet Beauty. You've captured an essence there- hard to define- but evident. I think the "simple" works always show extraordinary skill- you know how much time you worked on it- and the viewer just sees elegant simplicity. I liked baby Bob- especially enjoyed the mature Bob painting you did last year!

Mary Paquet said...

Pam, thanks for checking in and giving me encouragement. the workshop was great fun.

The mature Bob painting was a hoot - done from a snapshot at a bike class where he was teaching how to change a tire. Those chubby cheeks and interesting mouth are hidden under the beard, but he still looks a bit like Baby Bob.

hw (hallie) farber said...

I like both of these; children are not easy subjects.

Your blog's got me interested in Tyvek. Guess I'll have to check with some builder friends.

Mary Paquet said...

Hallie, I'm happy to hear that you are interested in Tyvek. I bet you will like it and it will fit with your no holds barred approach to life! I will post on your blog and give you a source that a friend located. I will post it here, too and also on my blog for others.

www.allweatherblueprints.com/tyvek-sheets-printing.html

janice said...

Lucky you, Mary, to be able to learn from so many talented artists! I enjoy seeing your work regularly and seeing how much your skill has grown.