work lately. This is my tribute to him. Torn black paper silhouette and white and black ink with some matalic paper collage. Everyone is really in the spirit of the workshop and all are having fun. 
This was so much fun to paint! I think I can be a cartoonist. Every time I draw this face from my drawings rather than from the photo, it gets looser and looser. Stylizing it this way releases me to use more inventive color. I learned a lot from my first effort on this new paper. I think I kept the color fresher and was able to control the application much better this second time around with the Stonehenge Paper. I used all flat brushes on this painting. The angled edges of the shapes made the flats a good choice plus I can control the amount of water on the paper better with a flat. I decided to make the left side cool this time and I like the sense of light on the face. Although this is very exaggerated, I like the emphasis on the two different sized eyes, his interesting nose and his long creased face. As a thank you for lending me his face, I gave him back his youthful dark hair and eyebrows. It's only fair.
Tomorrow I am going to do a collage painting. I read the directions in the new Daniel Smith Winter Sale Catalog.
November is Paint everyday month. I think the goal is to post everyday as well. I am off to a good start so I will set this for my goal. Thirty shape paintings? I will throw in some other stuff. I am in awe of the Urban Sketcher blog. I am going to try my hand again at fast sketching on sight.
I am back to working on my variations of the Frenchman. I didn't have time to explore shape this month so I am going to continue with Shape as a dominant element for November. I have written down different ideas for modifying shape and this is one I have wanted to try for awhile. The first photo shows how I created a grid to elongate the image and then drew it freehand after I saw how the shapes changed. Then I drew it with my oiler-boiler onto the paper. It becomes more exaggerated every time I draw him!
This is the paper I won from the self-portrait competition. I was anxious to try straight watercolor on it. The name of the paper is Stonehenge. I think it is mainly a paper used for printing but does accept watercolor. It has a hot press finish and it seems like each brushstroke shows. I tried mingling color in a wet wash but that technique wasn't great on this paper. I think glazing works better. If I work with this paper I think I will get better at a la prima technique where I need to be more decisive and purposeful with each brushstroke. This paper will also be great for collage and stamping. I can always coat it with Gesso or Matte Medium, too.
I think the image is fun, a little unusual in the color department. Part of it became too neutralized. I am hoping to try it again tomorrow.
