And even more portrait work

I've added some more glazing...she's less purple now, and doesn't look so much like an alien! I even gave here a little lip gloss :-) 

Update on Portrait work

I'm pressing on with the glazing technique. I worked on her hair, which is still too yellow - but I'll get it worked out eventually. And, I've started layering on the flesh-colored glazes on top of the purple underpainting - thankfully, acrylics dry quickly (and with the blow-dryer, even faster) so I hope to be finished with this in another day or two. This is very different from my usual style of slapping paint on a canvas - but is very educational!! 

Portrait Day I

Today, I was all wrapped up in portrait land. There is a class in the Acrylics forum at WetCanvas on portraits, and this is my "homework" for it - an underpainting in diox. purple. I used purple as a complement to the orangey skin tones that I will glaze on top - makes them seem more vibrant and alive. Actually, I like this one so much as is, I'm considering finishing out the hair and calling it done...what do you think?

Portrait Day II

This is the one for the portrait exchange - I posted my graphite study a while back. This one still needs some work - her left (our right) eye is not quite right, and the shadow under it is too dark. But - I'm tired, and I'm going to bed! 

Portrait challenge

Wet Canvas is having a portrait exchange, and each participant was teamed with another to exchange photos of themselves, and paint/draw/whatever a portrait from it. Then, after you are finished and have posted it, you send them off to your partner. So - here's my effort - in graphite...just a study - I'm planning to do the portrait in acrylics.

Tree Creatures

Okay - this one is kind of weird, I guess. Here's the explanation. I was tooling around my favorite art site on the web, Wet Canvas, and I came across this watercolor classroom called "Tree Creature". Okay - I don't do watercolor, but I do some inks, and they behave similarly, so I was intrigued. Basically the classroom is all about hidden images in an imaginary tree, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I started out by drawing the outline of an imaginary tree. I had no idea what "theme" I would be going with, but I thought I'd let the tree dictate the direction.

When I got done with the outline, I noticed a hump on the right hand side that looked just like a pregnant belly...the rest just kind of happened from there. I've got some of it colored in, just for my self to see where I was going with the bark of the tree - there's our cat, Pugsley, our dog, Oscar, a piece of taffy, a book, and of course, the pregnant lady with the outie.

So, the next step is to transfer this drawing over to some watercolor paper and start in with the inks...I'll keep you posted!

A better image

I took a picture in daylight, and it turned out much better than the first! 

WDE 10.28.05 Red Poppy

24"x24" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. BAD photo - I'll try to get one tomorrow with no glare. 2.5 hours

WDE 10.28.05

My first drawing for a WDE in a while. This is of the host's son. 8B graphite on Bristol board. Took around 2 hours. 

I've got the BLUES

"Dear Diahn,
Thank you for your entry in Eye Candy AVA's Juried Member exhibit. Your work was among a very impressive group of entries of various styles and media, and the decision-making process was a difficult one. Out of 234 entries, only 49 works were selected to participate in this exhibition. Unfortunately, the juror did not accept your work(s) for this show..."

Sigh. The works I submitted are below. Always makes me want to quit for a day or two - but then I just can't help myself and I start over again.

Sorry for the downer, but I did say there might be some wailing and moaning...Wail...Moan...

Pearls of Rosedom 

A Serene Cow in a Mad World.  

Fiery Kitty - Acrylic in on WC postcard, 4x6 inches. For 10/9/05 WDE 

A Horse, of Course...Acrylic on paper 8x8 inches. For the 10/9/05 WDE at WetCanvas. 

Trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Mingo Falls - 180 feet - on the Cherokee Indian Reservation, North Carolina - just outside of GSM park boundaries

Female Eastern Swollowtail butterfly (I think). Great Smoky Mountains National park, Smokemont trail 

Male Eastern Swallowtail butterfly, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Smokemont trail 

Did a little work on this bovine. His ears needed some bridging to the skull, so I added those in, and then changed the color intensity on the ears a little so they looked more like the belonged on him. 

The remixed version - his eye is good, now... 

Acrylic paint on 140 lb cold press. 8"x8"