One of my watercolor portrait using a more "natural" color palette. Not my California Vibe style, but it is bright and cheerful. Painted on 140lb. cold press, rough watercolor paper, full sheet.

Top watercolor portrait is a preliminary study painted on a 12 by 16 inch sheet of 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper. The final portrait was painted on a 22 by 30 inch sheet of 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper. Painting studies helps to familiarize yourself with your subject in terms of value shapes and what your color choices will be. This process really helps when one is working in watercolor! Notice my expressive use of not only color but brush strokes (especially in the hair). Watercolor rocks!!! By the way, this is a good example of my California Vibe Watercolor Portraiture style that I teach both in California and across the country. 

Glorious Hair!

This is my first entry into the international American Watercolor Society show. Think it has a chance for being judged in?

Same image as previous post but in acrylic

Unlike the medium of watercolor, an opaque medium like my acrylic piece here does not demand the greater degree of pre-planning.

All mediums have a painting logic and ESPECIALLY WATERCOLOR

The transparent medium of watercolor, more than any other painting medium, demands planning your painting sequence from the get go. Here is a good example. I will be conducting this workshop after my California Vibe Watercolor Portraiture workshop that I will be teaching next week in St. George, Utah (under the auspices of the Dixie Watercolor Society in St. George).

Three recent watercolor portraits

All three watercolor portraits were painted on 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper, 11 by 15 inches in size. The black gentleman was painted mostly wet-on-wet in about thirty minutes. The gentleman holding the camera was painted mostly wet-on-dry over the coarse of three days in one to two hour sessions. The female subject was watercolored equally wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry over two days in about one hour sessions. I teach three to five day portrait workshops both in California and out-of-state. Please contact me at davidlobenberg@me.com with inquires. My next "California Vibe Watercolor Portraiture" workshop is scheduled for October 12 to 15 for the Dixie Watercolor Society in St. George, Utah.