Well, here she is again. By the way, I found this comely lass about a year ago on Flickr.com. Before I painted this demonstration for my workshop students, I decided on using the colors burnt sienna, yellow ochre, Opera (made by Windsor Newton), permanent rose, ultramarine blue, phthalo blue, and just a smidgin of a bright yellow. I stressed to my students that one can pick a variety of colors for the face and hair just so long as one uses them in an harmonious manner. The last thing I did before the workshop concluded was to do a wet-on-wet ochre, yellow background which served to bring out the outside border of her hair quite nicely. On the very outside edges of the hair and while the wet-on-wet was still somewhat moist, I pulled of some paint with a dry brush to enhace the slight value difference between the hair edge and background value. I have also included a few shots of my workshop students working on their portraits.
My good friend and very talented artist Paul Bianchini and his golden retriever Gus, took a road trip with me to the Suisun Valley wine growing region about 45 miles outside Sacramento (and on the way to the Napa Valley wine growing region). We went there to scout out a location for a sun protecting tent that the Ledgewood Creek Winery is going to set up for my watercolor workshop towards the end of August. Upon arrival at the winery, we graciously were each offered a fabulous glass of their latest Pino Chard. Of course we therefor decided to purchase a bottle and two glasses for our scouting expedition. We found the perfect location to set up the tent. Of course we then decided to do a little sketching while in the vineyard. Of course we first had to make a toast before our labors. Of course, whilst sketching, we indulge in a few sips of the good stuff. And after said labors, of course, we had to celebrate. That's my good and somewhat tipsy buddy at the end of our scout-n-sketch. I somehow managed to do that bamboo pen sketch with watercolor wash. A most happy day it was...of course!!!
