Some views of my Santa Clara, California workshop last week

This was a five day watercolor portrait workshop that I taught for the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society. I had a full workshop with 20 very energetic, talented, and delightful painters. The first photo shows them waiting for my first demonstration. The second view is our classroom. The next is the start of a demo painting I did to show value control. The following photo is the finished watercolor with an overlay of color. The fifth shot is a watercolor study that was painted by one of my students. It is her mother and a very compelling piece! The sixth image is one of my students snapping a photo of one of my many demo paintings that I did over the course of the five day workshop. The seventh photo shows my workshop crew holding one of their portraits. We worked both in Payne's Gray and full color. The final shot shows my work table with Mr. Head.

Another watercolor painting progression from a reference photo of one of my college students

Draw the outside shape of the head, paint a few light and dark values, deepen some of the mid values, paint the last darkest values, and finish with a background.

Portrait by eyeball

You are not drawing a face, you are not drawing a face, you are not drawing a face. That's my mantra with anything I draw or paint. I draw and paint shapes, contours, and values. That is what any artist needs to concentrate on. That is pure right brain muscle power. The shapes need to be angled, proportioned, and positioned as accurately as possible, the contours also need to be as accurate as possible, and you need to see and control value relationships. Do that, practice that, and you too can eyeball it.

Check out my new website

I have a brand, spanking new website. Go to my sidebar on this blog and click on the link under "Website" or click here. I am beginning to teach more workshops outside of California at venues like Art in the Mountains where I am scheduled to teach a five-day watercolor workshop in August of next year, and this blog will serve to announce that information as well as showing my art. I am still in the process of fleshing it out and learning how to most effectively use it, but as of now, I have quite a good sampling of my watercolor portraiture work on it. I hope, dear reader, that you may want to pay my new site a visit. You can even submit your email address to receive periodic newsletters from me. There is a lot of digital technology for us artists to use, and I am hoping to use it effectively for my blog readers and followers, Facebook friends and fans, and my workshop participants.

Hey! - Cool it with capturing a perfect portrait likeness.

We all want our portraits to look JUST LIKE OUR SUBJECT, right? For me, this idea of capturing a perfect likeness starts with a really hard-won accurate drawing. It's great to meet that goal, but be aware of "perfection". What could be equally satisfying? Maybe it can come by NOT worry too much about capturing a "perfect likeness", NOT to erase a lot of "mistakes" during the drawing process, and just letting go with some of your idiosyncratic line work. What the hey, did the great El Greco worry about his propensity of elongating figures? Do artists like Lucian Freud worry over overly accurate line work. He digs deeper and captures spirit. In fact, you know what? This painting needs to get more "inaccurate!" I'll have to do this again . . . and maybe again! 

Mixed medium portrait

A little watercolor, a little colored conte crayon, and a little color expression. I worked from a black and white photo reference print, so that I was not influenced by the color if I had used a color reference photo. This was one of my drawing students at Sacramento City College. She had piercing eyes.

Three Star Students, Three 11 by 15 inch Watercolor Portraits

These are three star art students that attended my spring semester studio class at Sacramento City College. Which watercolor rendering of them one might be your favorite?? One, of these photos may become one of my multiple references for a five day watercolor portrait workshop I'm conducting for the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society (San Jose, California) this August 12 through 16. I'm really looking forward to this one as well as being very excited to have been signed up to teach the same workshop next August, 2014 in Bend, Oregon for Art in the Mountains (Aug. 11-15), and a three day watercolor portrait workshop next March (dates to soon be determined), 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah for Colleen Reynolds (CRB Endeavors). Over the past year or two and through this blog, my Facebook page, a local PBS arts interview program, my recent workshops in northern California, Nevada, and Washington, and my "Portraiture In Payne's Gray" DVD, I am building a reputation as a go-to watercolor portrait instructor and am expanding this part of my profession. I'm planning to teach more out-of-state watercolor portrait workshops in 20014 and beyond. If any you who are reading this have any suggestions of an arts organization that would like to explore the idea of scheduling a three to five day portraiture workshop, please contact me via this blog or call my studio (Studio L) at 916-737-2311