After a week of "hiding" I'm back to blogging. After the murder of Alex Pretti I didn't feel like writing any posts at all. I was sickened, sad, angry, mad as hell - all at the same time. I don't know how you deal with all of what is happening in our country right now; I have a hard time with it. Long walks help, talking with friends, watching German movies, escaping into books.
Thankfully Nicole's new challenge was looming just around the corner and up to then I had successfully procrastinated. No more! It was the most welcome escape.
I had decided to try my portrait painting "skills" with the help of a photo of my daughter that I took during her stay with us in June of last year.
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On Gene's blog and then on Nicole's I had read about a tracing method using oil pastels and I wanted to try it out. Wow, it works like a charm!
Unfortunately I didn't take a picture what the traced face looked like. Like with the self-portrait challenge I used watercolors again. It's a medium that I don't "master" at all, but I find it so fascinating. If I don't practice it, I will never learn it. That includes painting something that is not necessarily "good" or "pretty" or whatever word you want to attribute to it. There are only two progress photos.
The ugly stage:
This was the moment that I stepped away from it. How do you eliminate those lines and rough edges? How do you control the amount of water? Practice practice practice...
Better:
Those eye lashes are for real! Look at the photo - she is so lucky to have these long and dense lashes. She never uses mascara (like her mom, she doesn't use any make up except for a lipstick every now and then) since they always look so beautiful. She got these from her dad - it was one of the first things I noticed about him when we had our first cup of coffee together (thanks HP for those coffee corners).
Finally I thought I was done. I was afraid to ruin it if I would "doctor" it more. I'm not too unhappy with it. Here it is, joining FFO.
Nicole, thank you for this new challenge. It took me several days to paint, it was frustrating and fun at the same time. I'm glad that I did it even though there was a time in between when I was tempted to throw my watercolors and brushes out the window. Good thing I didn't!
18 comments:
Dear Carola, I really love ❤️ this.
I would say that you captured that young lady with your painting.
I love that tracing technique. It makes getting the features in the right place so much easier.
I think you stopped in a good place. It is so easy to overwork a watercolor painting.
I am heartbroken by everything we're witnessing in the USA and around the world too. I pray without ceasing, exercise, and use my artwork as a form of meditation. That being said, your portrait is exquisite.
Carola, getting your mind away from the sadness of current events and doing a watercolor of your daughter seems like the best therapy.
Wow, das ist super geworden! Hier jet lag und Alles was ich hinbekommen habe ist eine Kritzelei. Von minus 2 in 35 plus... ich bin keine 20 mehr und kann weder im Bus noch in den Fliegern schlafen. Ingo pennt gerade - hach es ist aber herrlich und ich habe Wassermalfarben dabei. Mal schauen. Deins ist echt toll geworden.
Beautiful painting of a beautiful daughter. Portrait is the most challenging to do. Have a nice weekend. Greetings Taina from Finland
It’s terrific, Carola. I am sure that Kaefer would love to have it. The events in Minnesota get more sickening by the day. We just witnessed public executions on the streets of Minneapolis, by armed thugs afraid to reveal their faces. Even the Gestapo and the SS didn’t wear masks. Your adopted country is disintegrating before your eyes. Its leaders have been chipping away at its foundations, and have traded a chisel for a jackhammer. Big hugs and shared sorrow - David
Carola your portrait is beautiful! Wonderful and lovely. There is so much going on in this world and making more art is so helpful. Have a lovely weekend.
...Carola, you had a beautiful subject to start with and you do a wonderful job!
The frustration with all the events and our loss of our country never goes away. For me, art helps because it takes me away and I think about the art, not our reality. I think that your portrait looks amazing, and I like how you used watercolor paints to create it. That's a super technique for getting the image too. I'd forgotten about that even though I read it also. Have a super weekend and FRiday too. hugs-Erika
Lovely portrait!
Carola I love this post!!!!! You brought forth exactly what art is. I agree with you about Alex Pretti, and everything else that is going on in our country. I have NO ONE to talk to about it. Mr. M. refuses to and the rest of my family are the "things" biggest supporters. Soooo I turn to art. It takes me away. I'm so happy you tried the tracing idea. Surprising how well it works. Again you are so right on pushing yourself in a medium or subject that you are not completely comfortable with yet. Practice is the answer. Seeing your piece through an artist eye is exactly what you did. Asking how to get rid of harsh lines and so on. Then working it out and accomplishing a fabulous portrait. Everything is exact, well thought out, proportions perfect. I'm so glad you didn't give up. You did exactly what you set out to do. Very well done. Thank you for joining FFO portrait challenge. Have a great weekend.
It's a lovely portrait, Carola. It's good you pushed through and completed it. Have a good weekend.
Your love for your daughter shines through in every brush stroke! She's beautiful!
Good morning Beautiful
Politics both at home and in other countries makes me sad and I feel more than just sadness, it's just hard to find words for it.
Everything is going in the wrong direction: violence, the acquisition of power and other countries, discrimination, murders.
I would run away, hide myself from what is happening, but unfortunately I have to live in it. I still hide myself in books, in many poems and blogs, in my own and others' blogs.
Your portrait painting? I'll leave a sentence here for now:
"Practice makes perfect!"
Éva
WEll, your daughter is beautiful and your painting of your daughter is beautiful ... so the awful environment that we are living in must have stepped back as your mind found it's way to something you love. Thank goodness for art!!! You do well with water colors. I struggle with them, but like you said, we learn by doing. I find myself finding ways to cheat with my art ... for instance, I did a watercolor painting, scanned it into my computer and improved the colors and blending on photoshop. My goal is to be able to paint a picture without needing to make improvements in my computer ... time will tell.
I share your sad, angry, frustrated, disgust with what is happening to our country. I have bad thoughts about what I want to happen to our so called leader ... not that it would do any good as someone else would just step in and maybe be even worse. I think this next election is cruscial ... but meanwhile, I am looking into the "No Kings" Demonstrations on March 28. I think that might be one way to deal with the frustration ...
So hang tough, Carola ... we will get through this. There is more of us than there is of them, right?
Andrea @ From the Sol
I'd say you nailed her and did it beautifully. .(And what a great model you had to work with!) You're right about the eyelashes. It's easy to do that "wrong" on a painting -- too much. You got it just right. I'd say well done.
As for Minneapolis -- don't start me or I may never stop. Frustration, anger, confusion, total bafflement, distress, all these emotions and more go through my head. But we will fight, we will demonstrate, we will write our people and we will NOT give in.
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