2013 ALL MEDIA PHOTO CHALLENGE---January #27

wetpaperfan wrote

on 5 Jan 2013 11:54 AM

I tried this am and it uploaded.  Here she is...  -   My first soft pastel portrait,  I was just fooling around with the background to see if something worked,  I put on some color then added water.  just to see what it would do.  She is a freehand sketch and I didn't get the length in her face, but I did this in 3 hours.   Its on a  9x12 Cranson sketch pad, she is 7x6  her face isn't as long as I would like but this was just a trial with the pastels.

A Gal Named Sam wrote

on 5 Jan 2013 1:09 PM

Wow, Marsha!  Fantastic and it's your first pastel portrait.  I suspect it's pretty near your first pastel.  Love it.  Her eyes are alive and sparkle.  The gentle smile on her lips is precious.  The hair is simple and it works very well.  I'm so proud of you.  Take a bow.  I think you would like it better if you added alcohol or solvent to the pastels rather than water.  Play with it on a piece of scrap paper. 

J.V.Schaffer wrote

on 5 Jan 2013 1:41 PM

Well I'm behind again

Alex all of your blue jay paintings looked great but the highlight on the eyes really made it

Catherine I sure like the monochromatic sketch of the chicks when I was young we would get at least 50 every year to raise

Bonnie you have done a great job with your sketch the rifle looks great

Jean it is good to see you posting here youth and wisdom great idea

Jen as always you have came up with a nice sketch I can find no faults

Marsha first pastel portrait great job all looks good

Hope I didn't miss anybody I will check and get back if I have I call this bingo

A Gal Named Sam wrote

on 5 Jan 2013 1:50 PM

Jim, you have captured the old lady's eyes, mouth and chin very well.  I like the contours and values on her neck.  You even added a hand which looks good.  You are an ambitious person.  A talented one, too.  Nice work.

Sheila Phelps wrote

on 5 Jan 2013 2:09 PM

Jen, Marsha, and Jim - Fantastic portrait work!!! 

Kim513 wrote

on 5 Jan 2013 3:10 PM

Alex - The highlight in your Jay is just the right touch and well placed too.

Jean - Your looseness is something I could learn from. I hope to see more of your work.

Jen - Your old lady was all great but I esp. loved how you did the mouth.   Not easy to do but you did so well.

Marsha - The tiny wrinkles showing gets to me, as do her eyes with her soul showing thru. Very nice indeed.

Jim - I enjoyed seeing your interp. and how creative you were with it - your style captures this old lady. One ? is to look at the lower right portion below her hand. It could be just me, but I think it looks like her body may be cut off, where it could use a bit of diff. color for a table or else some more blue. Anyway, it's a very striking painting. (what medium ?)

This has been very inspiring to see so many at these chall. already, and all of you have such super quality in your work.

B.J. Bailey wrote

on 5 Jan 2013 3:14 PM

Jean, Jen, Marsha and Jim, good work on all the portraits in all the different mediums.  Marsha, you must keep up the pastels now that you have made such a good start.  Jim, I was wondering what medium you used?

This is my attempt at the flintlock rifle, now that I have had a look at it everyone will just have to asume that the strap from the horn is snagged behind the post and that is why it is not really going in the right direction. Also, I wished the posts had not been quite so dark.  I used "The great Canadian Sketchbook" (couldn't resist adding this) 8.5 x 11".  I used india ink and watercolour and found it not very forgiving on this sketch paper. Also the photo turned out somewhat blue.

J.V.Schaffer wrote

on 5 Jan 2013 4:11 PM

Thank you Sam ,Sheila, Kim and Bonnie  ,I had meant to crop more of the blue above the card  Kim but my wife conned me into buying lunch when we got back I forgot to . I almost always use acrylics on wood as this is

Kim513 wrote

on 5 Jan 2013 6:13 PM

Jim, I was pretty sure it was acrylic, but I didn't want to assume. On wood - that's interesting. U use gesso first or how do you prep? Thanks for sharing your art.

Bonnie - I was at a gun show very recently and I can tell you that esp. the metal by the trigger on your ptg. and the wood overall looks SO real.  Someone should be pleased to see this framed on their wall.

J.V.Schaffer wrote

on 5 Jan 2013 6:27 PM

 Bonnie this is really nice how can a powder horn hang wrong ?

Kim sometimes I prime sometimes I paint directly on the wood to get the wood grain effect  as on my avatar

jm7445 wrote

on 6 Jan 2013 2:59 PM

Hi everyone!

Rainy day here in SC. Got the old watercolor paints out and created.  Started to add ink, after a few strokes decided against it. Had fun.

B.J. Bailey wrote

on 6 Jan 2013 3:10 PM

I can't believe how you managed to get a good perspective on this. I tried sketching it and everything was out.  Nicely done.

A Gal Named Sam wrote

on 6 Jan 2013 3:32 PM

Jean, I agree with Jean that you did a good drawing on the birdhouses.  It's really very cute.  I would suggest that you get a little darker in some of the shadow areas.  It's seems to be mostly middle values.