Megan

I think I'm done. 8x10 Acrylic on canvas board. I got some bright, funky colors back, but I had to go with primaries because I never could capture the purples that I wanted. I think it lends a Latino flavor to it. Don't know if that's my Southwestern background coming out or her Hispanic heritage or just coincidence. Students think it looks like her and one of my best students said that they like it so I think it's ready to go.

Scroll down to see how it looked when I first started and while I was working on it.

Not sure

I don't know if this is progress or regression. I liked the variety of colors and the bold vibrant colors yesterday. I'm not sure how much it looks like the subject yet. At least I do like that she looks happier and less worried. Either scroll down past the political cartoon, or click here to see what it how it started out.
We'll see, maybe Monday it will finally come together.

What's on my easil right now

I have a student in the hospital, so in lieu of flowers, I thought I'd make small acrylic painting. I used a photo that had already been made "psychedelic" in PhotoShop. I'm kind of going for a loose, free, fun, bold, bright Peter Max sort of thing. I'm already running into some snags and it's only Day 1. Maybe you can see how I need to rework the eye sockets. I also can't seem to match the purples and reds that I want to. We'll see how tomorrow goes- hopefully better.

Pretty in Pink

"Grace," acrylic on 16X20 canvas, 4/28/2006

I've always had some kind of block whenever I've tried drawing or painting anyone in my family. Maybe it's just performance anxiety, maybe they're so important to me that I don't want to hurt/offend/or disappoint them. Maybe it's that I know them too well and being so familiar with their features, I'm overly critical of myself when I don't get them exactly right.

Whatever the problem was I tried my best to work through it today because I wanted to give my oldest daughter something special for her birthday. I still may not be at a professional skill level as a painter, especially on the modeling, blending, and general finish- but I'm happy with the sense of unity/cohesiveness and balance of the color scheme, the general composition- but best of all I actually think I managed to capture her energy and personality. It's got joy and unpretentious friendliness to it- and that in a nutshell is Grace. Loving and fun.

I love her and I'm proud of her. I hope she likes this gift and that she won't hate it or be embarrassed by it when she's 14, 21, 28, 32 etc.

"I may not know much, but I know the difference between chicken shit and chicken salad." -- Lyndon B Johnson

Mallory