Practice Piece - Some 3D Elements and a Haiku

This piece is an effort to incorporate raised surfaces like freehand braille (with an actual 3-line haiku translated to braille that should be read by rotating the image counter-clockwise).

I learned so much from painting a profile.  Some of that learning was in achieving some sense of depth, dealing with bags under the eye and lines (from cheek to chin) that occur when the mouth is open as intensely as it is.  The ear may be a bit small, but it looks much more realistic than many I've done before--so I'm really happy with that. There is also a lot of acrylic glazing in this -- used for the background and hair.   

 

Sketch and Painting with Non-Dominant Hand

A recent day's internal conversation:  I wonder, could I sketch that image with my non-dominant hand?  What if I tried?  Would there be something to learn by doing it that way?  Could I accept disappointment if it turned out to be a 'hot mess'?

After trying successfully to sketch it, there was more internal dialogue:  What if I continue by painting it with my non-dominant hand?  This was followed by all the other questions again.  

I'm so delighted with this piece.  I've learned I can draw and paint with my non-dominant hand!  Of course the brushstrokes are different in that hand...dabbing the paint on the page bit by bit.  My non-dominant hand also did the fine lines with some support from my dominant hand in the process. 

It has been humbling to learn how well that side of my mind-body connection is capable of artistically rendering the vision I had for this piece! 

Ardith Goodwin's Color is Here!

In early March, Ardith's Land of Ardithian Color course started and continues into late April.

I've done a great deal of work in the course including detailed color studies (elective) and painting experimentation.  

A selection from the color studies completed:

Getting to my preferred grey:

Working Dark to Light (subject area of faces):

Reworked painting I like from one I didn't:

The course has been even more challenging because of self-directed work.  You can't believe how much there is to know about color!  An interesting tidbit is that my Senior Thesis in college was on the Psychological Aspects of Color.  It also included results from an experiment on color meanings.  That project involved significant research and learning, although it was focused on a technical versus artistic knowledge of color.  The latter is what I'm learning through Ardith's class.

Some Other Fun Work - from Black and White Class

 

Play Day - Product

Just playing with a face sketch today that was initially painted in white, black and grays--that didn't look so hot. So I over-painted it with purple and used other tools to 'wild' it up. It's amazing to see that the face shading still comes through pretty accurately.

Sketching Dry and layering it with Wet

The lesson worked on today is to sketch a chosen subject and incorporate values of black to white using your tools...mine was a pencil.  For the white areas, I left the paper as is with no marks.  The intent was multi-fold:

1.  To determine light source and use light and shadow to show it.
2.  To use different kinds of mark-making to achieve gradations of shadow areas.
3.  To use contrast to clarify form where needed.

With the finished sketch, the next step was to layer the values of black to white paint over the sketch.  I used acrylics.  

What I learned is that mark-making can be used very effectively in a variety of ways, though it is messy--even the paper gets dirty as you can see.  The transformation to a painted piece was so well worth it.  This one is bold, intense and soft all at once, from my point of view.  What are your thoughts?

I'm happy with the learning.  It continues to take time to 'see' various light and shadow interactions, and I know that will improve with time.  In the meantime, I know I'm getting better at it!