Ally-kat

Ally is my other niece, older sister to Ashley. She's 13, taller than I am by an inch, with thick curly hair and big soulful eyes.

I thought I'd try a high-key portrait this time, to see if I could bring out the inner personality using a minimum of medium (just noticed the juxtaposition of paradoxical terminology there -sheesh).

I think I was mostly successful, although I had trouble with the hair - wanted to keep the image light but still get across the colour. Ally's hair is a dark blonde/light brown colour, and in certain light can seem very dark indeed, yet other times appears to have very light highlights. I think I caught that quality, but it took some work.



I like her eyes the best - they talk to you - and they follow you around when you move! Always wondered how artists did that - now that I've done it, I still don't know how it's done...

Anyway, I'm still enjoying 'painting' with graphite pencil - laying down a layer or two of pencil and then using a brush to contour and sculpt. It's so soothing and time flies, especially when I listen to music at the same time.

My next project will be different - I've lined up someone with a very expressive old world face - I'm really going to have a good time painting him.

See you soon :-)

"Ashley in Progress" - finished!

Well , it's finally finished! Although Ash is a dark blonde, I made her hair a little darker in keeping with the pensive mood of the piece, and to focus attention on her beautiful eyes. She's 10 going on 100, full of energy - so a quiet moment is fairly rare, according to her mom.

As for the title - she's definitely a work in progress :-)

Boy, I must say using a brush for fine shading and laying down broad swaths of pigment is addicting. One has to keep in mind that a picture that is all 'soft' is boring and unreal - so her eyes, and certain edges had to be 'sharpened' or 'hardened' to make things a little more interesting.

I think my brain is now ready for some more abstraction, so I'm putting away my pencils for a little while, and letting colours, moods and shapes percolate through. I wonder what I'll find?

Ciao for now!