Portrait of Hannah and Evelyn

Another project I finished before going on art break was a small watercolor portrait of my sister Hannah and her baby Evelyn for Hannah's birthday. It was a spur of the moment thing and compared to how long the "Phoenix Warrior" painting took, this one was a snap. It actually felt great to finish something I liked in such a short bit of time!

Anyway, on to the artwork.

I worked off of a photo of Hannah and Evelyn I really liked (one of the reasons why this painting came together so quickly). I made a few minor changes from the original photo while sketching it out, so that it would translate better as a painting. And, of course, I forgot to take picture of the sketch stage. Again. =_= Here it is after being inked.

To keep it simple, I decided to just use shades of brown, rather than full color. I also think that helped give it a simplified, classic look. 

After that, I bought a frame for it and sent it on it's way. I really, really love how it turned out (which feels rare, unfortunately) and Hannah loved it, too! ^_^

onward and upward,

Bethany

Portrait of Japser

Got something fun to share today!! ^_^ A few months ago, my sister-in-law Amy asked if I would be able to do a portrait of her corgi Jasper. I agreed and over the past few weeks, was able to make some time to get it done. Here's how the final turned out.

Since this portrait didn't just spring fully formed from my hand (which I wish would happen ever...T_T), here are some of the less glamorous steps in the process. 

As usual, I start with exploration sketches that always look terrible to me because I haven't learned the shapes and proportions yet.

By this point, I felt I had a reasonable grasp on how to draw a corgi (and have it actually look like a corgi!). A seated pose seemed like the best option and I drew it a few times to make sure I had the details worked out.

I also did a few studies of Jasper's coloration and coat markings. Getting the eyebrows to not look evil/angry was tough. 

After that, I started the final drawing. Fortunately, this one came together in one try; sometimes I have to redo the final drawing several times before it's right. Then, with much fear, trepidation, and praying, I moved to the inking stage. The inking stage kicks up the pressure, because if you mess up the drawing, you have to start over. But I love the quality ink brings to a drawing, so I put up with the pressure. :-P (Also, I forgot to take a picture of the inked drawing. Sorry about that.)

And thankfully, the inking turned out well, so I moved to the watercolor stage. Watercolor adds yet another level of pressure/trepidation/praying, but again, I really love the end results.

The hardest part of coloring this particular portrait was getting the eyebrows right and getting the right level of shading. Shading adds so much dimension to a piece, but can also ruin it, which is very intimidating. (Hmm, I'm seeing a trend in all my artistic choices...) For this portrait, I kept things simple and I think it paid off. 

I'm really pleased with how Jasper's portrait turned out and Amy was very happy with it, too! ^_^

onward and upward,

Bethany

May '15 Sketchbook

Lots of ink and watercolor portraits this month. I've been making really good use of those water brush pens! It's been nice to practice coming up with color pallets and color combinations.

onward and upward,

Bethany

More Fae portraits

Sorry this post is a little late; there was much shoveling of snow today. O.o Anyway, I took the fox fae girl sketch from a few weeks ago and painted it in Photoshop. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. In fact, it might be the best thing I've painted in Photoshop up to this point! 

After fox girl turned out so well, I decided to try a deer fae portrait. That turned out to be more complicated than I anticipated. I drew the first version, tried painting it in Photoshop, hated it and scrapped the picture. I drew the second version, tried to paint it in Photoshop, hated how the painting looked, and scrapped that picture too. I was going to repaint it a third time, but the week got too busy, so I'm just going to post the sketch with and an "I.O.U a proper paint job" note along with it. Also, my deer fae person is a little more gender neutral than I'd intended. I was trying to make it a guy, but the features didn't come out masculine enough. I still think it's a good portrait, though; much better than my first one.

onward and upward,

Bethany

Reflections on my college artwork: portraiture

Time for another reflective post on my college art. I mentioned in this post that collage was a big part of my work at college. The other subject I spent a lot of time on was portraiture. Portraiture is still something I enjoy, even though it isn't my main focus right now.

I'd worked on drawing people's faces a lot throughout junior high and high school. Faces are pretty tough, but something about them kept compelling me to continue practicing, even when I wasn't satisfied. By the time I hit college, I'd made enough progress that my portraits actually started to resemble the people I was trying to draw. And then came painting.

After a very brief semester of basic oil painting, we jumped headlong into painting portraits. Looking back on these paintings, I can tell I was still struggling to capture the subtle nuances of each face. But, I can also tell I was starting to make headway in producing an interesting portrait. 

Oil painting came (relatively) easily to me. Watercolor, on the other hand, was a much bigger struggle. I took a watercolor class around the same time as my second semester in oil painting and felt completely discouraged every time I tried to make something. Watercolor was so different from oil and I could not figure out how to make it work. Then we reached a portrait assignment and I painted this.

It completely blew my mind that, while my still lives looked horrible, this portrait actually turned out pretty good. I had enough knowledge and experience with faces that I could get the paint were it needed to be. After this painting, I tried my hand at other water color portraits. Some were less than stellar, but others ended up being quite successful. 

I still find it amusing that watercolor became such a big part of the art I do now, when I remember how hard it was to learn. I'm actually more comfortable working in watercolor now than with oils. Hopefully, that will change as I continue to do pieces in my water mixable oil paints. (Side note: If you're interested in working with oils, but can't/don't want to deal with turpentine, I highly recommend water mixable oil paints. They've been just as satisfactory as the real thing and much easier to clean up.) 

Looking at these old portraits, it's nice to see how much progress I've made. Since leaving college, I've made it a priority to be constantly learning and improving in as many areas of art as possible. And, even though I've spent a lot of time working on other topics, I know I'll always love portraits.

onward and upward,

Bethany

Portrait of Dresden and Calvin

Hello everyone! Welcome to January! I hope all of you had a good holiday break. Mine was busy, but with some very low key moments, for which I am extremely grateful. I got to spend time with family members, eat lots of good food, and took a few days to just relax. 

Right before Christmas kicked off, I finished up a portrait of my friend Dresden and her son. It was my gift to her and I will say straight up, it was one of the hardest paintings I've every done. Like, "feeling like I was back in art school, learning how to paint" hard. I actually had to scrap the first attempted because I hated it. But, through perseverance and prayer, I finished the painting off and both Dresden and I are pleased with how it turned out. Here are some photos of my process. 

sincerely,

Beth

Watercolor portrait: Mother and Child

This is the other piece I plan on submitting to the art show next week. Its another one of my watercolor collage hybrids. There are a few things I'd change about it if I could, but over all, I ok with it. All I need to do now is get it framed and wired, then I'm good to go.

sincerely,
me

In progress.......

Just a super quick post to update you on two art pieces I've been working on. I plan on submitting them to a local art show in a few weeks. 

I shall be posting pictures of the finished works soon!

sincerely,

me

Sisters!

Hello world! Sorry I've been away. I really did mean to post before this, but life got in the way, as usual. The following portraits are of my sisters and part of the reason it took me so long to post was the fact that I messed up the one below and had to start over. (Yeah, that was a sad day.) But I triumphed in the end and I'm really happy with how everything turned out. So, without further ramblings, here are my sisters.

The initial sketch,

And the final! This is my sister Christina. She's the youngest of the three of us. Part of me still can't believe that she's nearly all grown up already. Admittedly, I chose a kind of tricky picture to work from; but I think the painting turned out well. She kind of looks like a fairy tale character to me.

And here is Hannah, the middle sibling. The picture I worked from was taken a few years ago when she  was extremely allergic to a lot of things, including airborne mold. In order to go out in public, she had to wear a surgical mask to keep from breathing in the mold. She's doing a lot better with her allergies now and only occasionally has to wear the mask. I really like this picture because it is a tribute to all the challenges Hannah has overcome.

I know I'm biased, but I think I have some of the most gorgeous siblings ever! 

Sincerely,

me