This piece was a very quick study of a photo I took of my husband. We picked up a brush to doodle out how I was going to instruct my water class on painting portraits.

They say they want to paint like me so I had to analyze how I would go about painting a face. One thing is to work slowly and start building with light washes. If a piece is over-w0rked in the beginning it is hard or impossible to get the highlights back.

This painting is done on the paper I use to do glicee prints. It is acid free but not watercolor paper. The sizing is replace with a coating to make the paper printable. This paper is softer and some paint can be removed with just an electric erasure. The paper tares instead of scratching when a knife is used. Paint does not move on the paper but it can be lifted with a light tough of a scrubber.

The hair is unique. I painted the color under the hair and scratched the actual hair into the paper. Although the paper was not cooperating I think the result is still believable.

Well this has also been a lesson on how this paper differs from watercolor paper or knowing what are the qualities of a good water color paper. I keep encouraging my students to us good paper. I give them pieces. They still resist, thinking that their work is not worthy of a piece of paper that may cost a few dollars. I even offer them a package price for a single sheet, because that is how I order my paper.

I started by just painting the lip an chin. I did not start with a drawing. I told my class to practice. Work on specific areas at a time. Expect failures, but experiment and don't be scared. I was proud of them. They ended up with finished works. One student was sculpting the angles and bones of a man's face, stating she could not draw. Another student painted a believable portrait of her mother from a black and white photo.

This painting will be matted and framed an put by my computer.:)