Experimenting with watercolor and pastels

In Pastel Journal I read about underpainting pastels with watercolor, acrylic and even oils.  I did this painting with wet watercolor with pastels over onto the wet paper.  Loved the process and the way the pastels moved. FUN!  And this "Perfection leads to Procrastination leads to Paralysis".  Make Marks!

Martha Miller

Thank you so much Martha Miller for 

a wonderful class with lots of support,

interesting invitations,  dynamic models,

and the pleasure of permission to play,

make a mess, experiment, and work hard!

Many blessings to you and your work.

Mary

I think its interesting that I drew my eyes so big in 

most of my self-portraits and then I developed

eye infections in both eyes.  Was my artwork

asking for my attention?  I am all better now.

I have my energy back and feel evermore grateful

for my precious eyes.

Dear Class, I'm sorry I won't be in class on Tuesday but I have put my drawings on this blog

to be a part of the group.  I hope that we see one another again in another class or at our show!

Many blessings to you all for a wonderful time experimenting, working and playing.  Mary

handsome women

February 10.2009

In conversation with the model, she told us that she is not always fond of having her portrait done as her face in repose looks stern or sad when it's not how she's feeling.  She likes to think of her face as handsome which she has lived with since she was a little girl saying "It's not always been an easy face to live with."  When I returned home from class that day a friend had sent me Alfred Stieglitz's photos of Georgia O'Keeffe, another handsome woman.  The placement of these two events was magnetic.

February 03. 2009

This is a drawing of the model with a drawing of her fiance in the background.  I became interested as I noticed the couple looked like Mary Magdalene and Jesus or maybe me and my beloved?

February 16, 2009

Another blind contour painting which bears a likeness

in a surprising way.  

Mixed Media Portraiture Class with Martha Miller

I decided to do a blind contour drawing with paint and then finished it while looking.  I enjoyed what appeared and found that the process led me in new ways.