Kristin in watercolour

[Cynthia Feustel]

Wow Brenda,
you certainly work fast. You are such a productive artist, you put me to shame. I need more time to paint!!
I am home today and have been trying to get a watercolor portrait done here in my home studio and do some housework too. The housework is winning. I have a studio in town also and do all my oil painting there as well as teach 7 classes per week . I teach all age levels and mediums. I can get so caught up in teaching and running that part of my business that I struggle to concentrate enough time on painting. The one thing that this forum has helped me with (among a million other things), is realizing the diligence it takes to become a successful full time portait artist. Well, all that aside and on to the subject at hand so I can diligently get back to work.

I wanted to encourage you to try a portrait using glazes instead of trying to get it all down with one pass. The wonderful transparent quality of watercolor makes it perfect to build up various colors in layers. By allowing one color to show through the other you can get very glowing skin tones. Try starting with a light vaue of indian red. Each layer must be completely bone dry before applying the next or you will get muddy , mottled color. You can put a glaze of yellow in the warm areas and gradually build up your darks and cool shadows.

As for the eyes, I always use black for the pupils but I mix my own black from ultramarine blue and burnt umber. The dark pupil really adds sparkle and life to the eyes. Remember to not paint the highlight on the eye. In w/c you work from light to dark so anything white is the white of the paper. Have fun!! I hope I you don't mind a few of these suggestions. As with anything there is more than one way to approach a painting. I have found these things to work well for me but if you are looking for a looser effect you may want to continue to experiment with the method you are using now.

Here are two examples of my watercolors. The image quality is not very sharp . Hope you can see them okay.


Thanks for letting me share.

Cynthia

[Brenda Ellis]

Hi Cynthia,
I don't mind your suggestions at all. In fact, I welcome them. I will give your method a try.
These portraits you've posted are great! Thank you for sharing them. I certainly hope you post more of your watercolors in the future.
I see what you mean about glazes of color, especially in the boy's face. I love the way you did the little girl's bonnet! I wish you lived here in Louisville; I'd take classes from you.

[Julie Deane]

Brenda -

Good for you! I especially like your first sample.

I tried a few weeks ago to do a sample profile in watercolor, but gave up in disgust. The November gala I do for my hometown may want me to do watercolor pieces, but I just don't have the knack. Charcoal and pastel will have to do!

Folks who are able to get a good likeness and rendering in watercolor have my utmost admiration.

Oh, I see I posted at the same time Cynthia's samples went up. Thanks for sharing these!

[Brenda Ellis]

Thank you, Julie. Watercolor is kind of satisfying in that it happens very quickly (compared to an oil painting.)

There was a time when I wouldn't have had much to put into watercolors either. I wouldn't rule them out altogether if I were you. At some point you may try them again and really like them!