portraits

There is alway more to learn about creating art, and that’s part of my passion. I could be a forever student! I recently complete a fabulous online workshop with a portrait artist whose work I have admired for years, Ali Cavanaugh. She is a master of creating exquisite watercolor portraits on white clay-coated Aquabord™ panels made by Ampersand Arts. I’ve used this combination of paints and surface for many paintings, primarily learning how to handle the unique qualities of watercolor … Read More

This small watercolor painting was inspired by a photo taken by my friend Debra of her husband Mike, all bundled up for a walk in a snowstorm. I was drawn by the overall monotone blue-grey coloring, contrasted by his skin tones. I decided to crop the image tightly to a square format, putting my main subject smack in the center – not the best composition by the ‘rules’ of painting, but I thought it appropriate in this instance. As I … Read More

I was ready to try a large watercolor portrait on white Aquabord™ and hunted through my reference photos for an inspiring subject. I had taken some photos of my 3 year old great-niece Emma a month earlier when we took her to a terrific children’s museum. She is cute, bubbly, and a happy little girl; she was excited and animated with the fun activities at the museum. I got some good photos of her but none of them jumped out … Read More

At the encouragement of fellow watercolor artists, I decided to broaden my horizons and entered my artwork into a national exhibition – and I got accepted! My watercolor “Sorghum Maker” has been selected by juror Linda Baker as one of 77 from among 302 entries for the 41st National Exhibition of the Georgia Watercolor Society (GWS). Entry was open to all watercolor artists across the United States using watermedia to create original artwork. The exhibition will take place in Atlanta, … Read More

Two of my paintings are currently featured in the Oak Ridge (TN) OPEN SHOW 2019, and I am delighted to also receive my first award for a black scratchboard. Juror Victoria Boone gave critiques to every entry, and here are her comments about my art:  Heart To Heart “Magnificent detail in cat and dog – especially in the eyes with reflections. This makes this an extremely poignant pet portrait. Just amazing…” She awarded this painting Honorable Mention. Sorghum Maker “Beautiful … Read More

I’ve read that when you are learning to do portraiture you shouldn’t try painting people you know. Well, I’ve obviously thrown that tip out the window! As soon as I saw my sister post this photo of her husband on social media, I felt it could make a great reference in my quest to do watercolor portraits. I was especially drawn to the casual pose, the side lighting and the beard. The sunglasses would be another ‘first’ for me to … Read More

Here’s my theory: the more people paintings I tackle, the more comfortable I will become with them. So I’ve started on a quest, creating small watercolor paintings of people who I have photographed in casual settings. “When He Was Six” is the first in this series, with the title harkening back to a popular painting of a little girl I painted in acrylics on canvas several years ago, titled “When She Was 3.” I’ve done other people paintings over the … Read More

  “Heart to Heart” is the third in my new series of scratchboards done in what I call a ‘purist’ method. These are a big departure from my previous scratchboards, in that these use no paint! I’ve done a few black scratchboards in the recent past (Pink Lady, Hair of the Dog and The Queen), but each of them used colors to help define the values. In the purist approach, the black surface is scratched to reveal whites, and  the different … Read More