Marion

[Celeste McCall]

Also, I have washed back the upper left forhead because it did not bend enough. And added some more shadows on the coat. I probably did not leave enough negative space around the portrait, but will do better on future ones.

[Linda Brandon]

Celeste, this is so luminous and I love the colors. I really enjoyed seeing this develop. Thank you!

[Celeste McCall]

Thanks Linda. I really appreciate it when artists take their time to post a message. I learn so much from others and want to share my knowledge as well. Again, thank you, Linda.

[Kimberly Dow]

This is lovely. I do not usually care for watercolor portraits, but you got some rich color here.

[Celeste McCall]

Thank you very much Kim.

I really value your input here. It was nice to talk to you back in May. Stephanie sure has one great shop there in Uvalde. What a wonderful area of the world that you live in.

Thanks again Kim.

[Sharon Knettell]

Celeste,

What a lovely and thoughtful presentation. Watercolor is my Waterloo, it is very difficult to do well.

You painting reminds me of the English Pre-Raphaelites, especially Burne-Jones and Millais.

[Marvin Mattelson]

Beautiful job, especially considering you're experimenting with a brand new medium. I can't wait to see what you'll do once you actually get the hang of watercolor. I'm impressed.

[Celeste McCall]

Dear Sharon,

Thank you so much for the post. You are too kind.

I think that the watercolors make me really work, but it is very satisfying. It is very similar to what I paint on porcelain so it is perhaps easier for me, and yet, it dries very quickly here in Texas, so I have to learn to deal with that. A good mister, and lots of fluffy strokes working from the light back toward the darks and adding water to keep the edges from forming helps a lot in the skin work. Thank you again, Sharon.

Dear Marvin,

Thank you for the post. I hope that you know that I think that you are one of the greatest artists that there is today. Your portraits look real. One day I do hope to retire (in 2007) and then get the honor of taking a class or watching a demo of yours. Thanks again, Marvin.

[Marvin Mattelson]

Thanks Celeste, you're far too kind. I may be coming to Houston to do a workshop this May or June. Maybe you can take a temporary early one week retirement?

[Celeste McCall]

I would, for sure, like to take that workshop, but I have previous committments for 6 of the 8 weeks during that time (first 2 weeks of May is Kerrville/Concan, and last week of May and first 3 weeks of June is Indiana and Cazenovia, New York).

I sure would like to have your 2006 schedule. It is possible that I would still be able to move some of the 2006 dates around on my workshops. The location of your workshop doesn't matter as much as the date.

What a treat that will be one day. I have a friend that is equally avid to take a class of yours too. So perhaps, with good planning, we could come and take one of your workshops in 2006.