Brenda Tracy Smith, whom I first met in third grade at Harrison Valley Elementary. I haven't seen her since I left high school halfway through 11th grade. I just finished this sketch and will revisit it with some changes for the better in the next few weeks.

Ed and Janet Vainio, Missoula, MT. They were interim pastors at the church we attend for about nine months. I love them both.

Kyla Morton, the music teacher at Stevensville High School, Montana, and a very good friend. This sketch has seen numerous reworkings and just keeps getting better and better.

Alejandra Pina Ramirez. She is a cousin of Gabriel, Amanda's son, and was eight years old at the time of the photo. I can see things in my sketch that aren't right, but what really jumps out at me is that I drew her mother. Ha, ha!! However, considering that I sketched this in about 1-1/2 hours, I'm not displeased with the result.

Harold Mitchell's daughter, Ciera.

We have a lion and a tiger!

Home, Messy Home

Had a late start this morning due to snow and since the light was good, I decided to take pictures for you of our great room. It looks "lived in" but still unfinished.

I took the original photo and blew it up to approximately the same size that I am working on, then printed that out and am using that as my reference. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe it will be ready for Facebook in a week or two.

Look for the "sparkle" in this photo

See all those reflections and highlights? You'd have to save them at the very beginning of your pencil drawing and work around them. In watercolor too, but in oil or acrylic you can paint them on top of the darker colors as you near the end of the painting.

What a struggle to get this far! I've spent quite a lot of time working this over and am still not there, but I'm getting closer. Took your advice, Phyl, and made her eyes and glasses larger and also spread them apart, changed nose and mouth slightly, changed left cheek, changed hairline, etc. I'm going to keep working at this, but may have to use the grid.

Five Times and Counting

You can see the progression below--from the first draft through successive revisions. I'm getting closer (I think), but I'm missing it somewhere. Comments?

Good Christmas

We moved into our new house a few days before Christmas and with the moving, didn't have as much time as usual to worry about stuff. We bought a new sectional sofa and that was our gift to each other. Then we bought each other a few needed items--shoes, slippers, jeans, socks, etc. I took a day off on Thurs. and Fri. was a holiday day so worked hard to get things unpacked and the house in order--was impossible to do it all. We went to church on Christmas Eve and then decided not to bother wrapping gifts, etc since we knew everything that we had bought for each other--couldn't find the tape anyway! Christmas morning I found the tape and wrapped gifts for T&T and baked my cookies (dough was in the fridge). Then continued sorting things while the roast beef was cooking. T&T were both on call so we ate in shifts but it was still good to spend the evening with them.

Good to be in the house even though we're living with lots of boxes and clutter. Have a few people looking at the old house to rent--met with a couple today that we both felt comfortable about. Wade is showing it to some others tomorrow. Pray that something works out, please. We still have some things to move and have to spend some time cleaning up.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a great new year!

I've located my sketch pad and am redrawing these (and Bob) in it. I will need to draw them on my paint boards as well. Going to get a lot of practice. No more scrap paper, unless, of course, it happens. For now, this is as far as I'm going with these sketches.

OK, some minor changes here and there. Getting closer all the time. I see some of Aunt Renee here. Which one do you think is better?

How's that for a first draft? Less than one hour, start to finish. I used this photo, but tilted it 10 degrees right so that the drawing (and portrait wouldn't lean so heavily to the left. The baby is not mine.

Beth, why do you have to be so difficult? I've spent hours working on this, tweaking it here, adjusting there, and still don't have it right. The last 2% is the killer. Excellent practice, though.

Phyl, would this be easier if she wasn't looking directly at the camera?





I spent a few minutes making some small changes, e.g., ear is longer, eyes modified, nose slightly wider at the bottom, mouth slightly shorter and tilted a little, hat 1/4" taller, etc. I like this one. There is a softness in Bob's face that isn't in the previous one.

We've Arrived

Tonight is the first night in our new house. Right now it's a big mess! And cold--gotta get it filled up with heat and dried out. Big adjustment after more than 30 years in our other house. I'm tired from work today so gonna get the bed made and take a shower so there's no holdup when the time comes to crawl in. Love you all.

After three attempts, this is what I've come up with as a preliminary sketch. I drew this on the back of a printed page, as I did the others. You can see the lines of type through the sheet. Sorry, I ran out of boards to paint on and am in the process of stocking up. Needless to say, there will be at least one more sketch.

The more I do this the more I find enjoyment in it. Too bad it didn't catch until I was 51.

Using Photo Shop as a Tool

I did a bit of editing on the photo. Here's four versions for you to study. One is greyscale, one sepia tone, one sepia with noise reduction to simplify the values, and one posterized to break them into distinct patterns. This is what you need to learn to see with your own eyes but it takes some time and lots of practice so the computer and any photo editing program becomes a good tool to help you see the pattern of light and dark values.

One this one, I'd like to see you try for color variation too but still working with the same three colors that you did on the last. Try for a warm and cool contrast as well as light and dark. More blue in the hat and less blue in the skin.

Also, devise a system for beginning color charts. It could be any sturdy white board or paper--cheap is fine. Convenient size would be binder or file--whatever works for you. Label the color (including brand name) that you are using and paint small squares of every combination of that color that you can mix. In this case, it would be Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, and Titanium White. Can be a bit tedious but someday it'll be valuable to you and if you do them along with the painting that you are working on, it won't take too long.

OK, Phyl, I have these photos. Which one is the best candidate? Can you Photoshop like you did for Cindy?