Friday, February 28, 2014

MONTHLY RECAP -- What I've Been Up To


February was a busy month for me -- a portrait commission, a one-day workshop here, beginning the duplication of the "fire" painting, and more picture taking.  Because I was busy, February seemed to fly by.  (I used to love it when February flew by, since it was never my favorite month.  But the older I get, the less I like for anything to just "fly by". . . )

But, at least it was productive.



I finished, matted/framed, and shipped the portrait, "Teagan" to my friend in Ohio.  


I hope they love it.  She was so much fun to paint!  Her hair was a challenge, but I'm pretty happy with it.  






On the 18th, I taught an all-day workshop, here at my house/studio -- "Painting Irises like Van Gogh".  We had a full house -- 14 ladies, plus me.  







You can see by the beautiful results what a success the workshop was -- 14 gorgeous iris paintings!





I love it when everyone's happy at the end of the day . . . (tired, I'm sure, but happy!)









Started work on the duplication of the "fire" painting.







I picked up the painting from my friend, Libby, with Libby Brown Restoration.  She had cleaned off the first layer of soot, so that I could see what I was doing.  And, she went a little further, so that I could see what colors I had originally painted.




I had thought that I had painted this on Aquabord, but it turns out it was on watercolor canvas which had been mounted on a board.  Really?  Why can't I remember that from just 7 years back?  




Because of that, I was able to peel off the canvas from the board.




Then, I mounted it on my lightbox, put tracing paper on top, and traced the shapes.






A few hours later, I'm done with the tracing.  Did I really tell Libby this would be a "piece of cake"?





So, first step is done . . . 






Here are my pix from the weekly Photo Challenges for February:


"LAYERS" --





"UNEXPECTED" --










"NEAR & FAR" --
























8 comments:

  1. Lovely portrait! How to make skin colour?

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    1. Thank you, Tarang! For skin color, I use different combinations of Quinacridone Rose, New Gamboge, and Cobalt Blue. I start with very pale washes of Rose and New Gamboge (pinky orange). Very subtle changes are added gradually -- baby steps. I sneak up on the darker values -- especially with the little kids.

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  2. Wonderful, vibrant portrait! I will be watching to see the results of the restoration. Even in it's current state, it looks amazing.

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  3. Lovely work! Apparently, February wasn't half bad!

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  4. Hi Pat, everyone in your family is so good looking..even the dogs.:-) how proud you must be of that mural..looks and talent in your genetic code. My question is, Pat, how in the wide wide world of sports did you do the tiny mosaic blocks behind the prickly pears..just one at a time with pen or do you have a faster technique. It's beautiful but looks really tedious to do. Thanks...been following you for along time now and so enjoy your work and help. Love, Marcia in Modesto California

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    1. Hi, Marcia -- Always fun to read your comments -- and thanks for the compliment! In the prickly pear painting, I paint each one of those little tiny "blocks", different colors, leaving a little white space between them. In this style of painting, I don't do much planning or pencil drawing. I'm not in a hurry, so it's almost meditative, painting this way. I enjoy it, but it's not for everyone. I appreciate your interest!

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