Civil Ceremony Portrait

This portrait is pretty much finished, I just need to look at it again in proper daylight and not just under my daylight bulb! Being that it's A4 size each tiny pinhead of pigment can totally change the shape of the features so this one has been fiddly. From the previous entry I added light pink pastel all over to smooth the skin tones and create the base layer before fixing it. Then I carefully added reds, yellows, oranges, blues, greys and greens to the skin, taking care to blend well and knocking a colour back with the pale pink if too much pigment was applied. Then when I was happy with the depth and colour I sharpened my pencils and sharpened the features, adding freckles and wisps of hair and highlights on jewellery.

Civil Ceremony Portrait

This latest portrait has been commissioned as a gift for a couple who are having a civil ceremony this September. It is A4 size in soft pastel and so far as you can see I have been building up the skin tones. Now the base layer is down I have fixed it so I can build on the depth of colour and concentrate on getting the tonal values right. It's fiddly working at this size with pastels as the smallest move of coloured dust can totally change the shape of the features. Teeth and eyes are particilarly hard and I'm having to sharpen my pastels frequently. I hope the next layer of colour behaves itself!

Watercolour flowers

I was presented with some beautiful sunflowers from one of my students when the Haywards Heath art class came to an end. I placed them in front of my black Victorian fireplace and the following morning came downstairs to see them bathed in sunlight. They looked so beautiful it would have been a crime not to paint them so here's the result, in watercolour, which is not my favourite medium but I fancied the challenge. And for a bit of fun I sprinkled salt into the centre on the sunflowers to create texture and in some lights it now looks slightly sparkly.

Then while I had my paints out I had a go at painting some daffodils in a looser style working mostly wet-in-wet. I think this one better captures the brightness of sunlight but I like both of them for different reasons. I bought some coloured mounts from my framer, which set them off a treat, ready to sell on my website!