A good lesson...

Try to keep your paintings, sketches, sketchbooks in some version of order. As you keep in touch with past clients, you may find that they wish to purchase historic materials.  Because I do so many compositional sketches for a portrait assignment, there are always more options for paintings than I will end up doing for the client. The parents of this little girl contacted me to purchase several pieces from that earlier project - graphite compositional sketches or watercolor color plans/studies. This is a detail from the final painting - a large double pastel of this little girl and her older sister. I should tell you a secret now...this was painted 17 years ago! It is still one of my favorites. How nice to hear back from those clients...

Quick sketches...

The best thing I can recommend over and over again is to do lots of sketching.  Some of my students have told me the last few days that they enjoyed seeing these little quick sketches that I do all the time.  I was also reminded of the time I accompanied my daughter to Vienna when she was singing with a group that was performing there.  I sketched everything! The buildings, the interiors, the singers, the hotel... I had my sketchbook with me all the time. Good or bad, fast or slow, I was indelibly etching these images on my brain in a way that a momentary snapshot never would.  Now get out the pencils and get to work!  This quick sketch is graphite and watercolor... $50/$5shp/NCSTx

Portraits in progress...

The sketch stage is so important to me. I feel that I might not be able to move ahead as easily without the study of the head and body language that is accomplished during the drawings. Here is the full graphite sketch of this lovely lady...

Portrait of a lady...

I enjoy waking up everyday looking forward to the work I do. Meeting new people, becoming a part of their lives, and creating an artwork that will last long after the person and the family are gone. This is a posthumous portrait...much more difficult to produce for me. I rely on the personality, the humor, the voice, the visual physique, the movement of the person to dictate how the painting should be completed. With the posthumous portrait, I must gleen all that informtation second hand from family and friends of the subject. This is a graphite detail from one of the sketches we are considering...

Love quick sketches...

It always amazes me when I have spent the day sketching...so many can be done in such a short time. In graphite, in charcoal, in watercolor, in pastel... even in oil... the ideas just flow. When traveling, it is the best way to record ideas. But even at home, we should do more, but we tend not to do our own towns, our own backyards enough. Here is a little watercolor of our Memorial Auditorium. It anchors our main street in downtown Raleigh. At the opposite end - our state Capitol.

Color Study - One Sitting

In working with my portrait clients I often do a full color study in one sitting. Particularly when they are from out of the area. This permits me to use my graphite sketches and my color study as my model for as long as I can before needing another sitting. Here is a one-sitting (about two hours), color study done at my studio. The image is life size. Doesn't he have the greatest eyes?

Portrait - the working sketch...

You know I have been sharing some of the travel, the sights, the activities, but today I thought I might share with you my real work. This is one of the portrait sketches in graphite that begins every commissioned portrait. I usually start with a sitting at their home or office...during which I draw dozens of sketchs. Only half dozen designs are presented to the client from which they choose their favorite. Then the painting begins in the studio. Here is the sketch that was chosen...it is 14 x 11 graphite... Tomorrow I will show you the early stage of the canvas as I wash the colors on with broad strokes...