more trees and rocks

Emily Carr might like these ???? Maybe Harris....? or Tom? ..in my dreams they talk to me

island paintings

Skull1

This is a piece I was asked to do for a friend. She wanted to give it as a gift to her boyfrend who is "into skulls". What does one do to paint something that is all white? (go for the blue shadows !)

on the deck

All this April rain... maybe we need some reassurance of what is ahead.

Portraits in Ink

say hello to Ingrid,Susan,and Amelia. painted with indian ink. Something different for me.

portraits class 3

This is Johanne , our model from week 3. Crazy hair..

portraits class 2

Two weeks into portraits class.Maybe all those skulls are helping?I have a good teacher and artist, Areg Elibekian. He is helping me to see, really see, faces and heads. I am a bit of an orphan in the class as I am the only watercolor painter; the rest are acrylic.

Here are some watercolor portraits from the last week. Plus a few sketches I found lying around from several years ago I did while travelling. New settings are always the best situations for drawings.

portrait class blog

I have started a portrait class. First week's assignment was to draw skulls and some faces.
I am posting some of my homework, and will update each week on what I am learning.

So far, every skull is different. Its critical to get the skull and facial shape correct. And then its the eyes that seem to matter most.

I can still paint; phew !

Its been more than 3 months since I last painted.

When I wait too long between paintings, a crazy thing happens.
I become increasiingly less confident,even to the point of paralysis.
I am sure I will be unable to do even the most simplest of things on paper.

But then it does come again. Phew! Here are a few new published works, one done yesterday.

Germany

I attended a lecture on German artists today, along with a special Otto Dix exposition.
Albeit disturbing at times, he did amazing work. His mission was to show the painful side of war and poverty in WW I and the post WW I eras in Germany.
His portraits are amazing.It was interesting to learn that he drew his subjects as they posed, but then painted the art without them ! If he painted from them live he said he would get lost in the details. Clearly he saw and remembered the character and emotion within each of his subjects, and could best express it from his heart wihtout reality as a guide. Pretty amazing.
As a mini slaute to Otto, here are watercolors I did while in Germany in March 2009. And a few from France and Italy . Can you spot the ones which are German?