My guilt trip

After badgering my class to paint their self portraits, I began to feel guilty. I did a self-portrait drawing from a mirror once, which is in my Creative Artist books, but I've never painted myself. So here it is, with some of the steps in the process. First, I used a photograph taken several years ago, which I enlarged to 8" x 10" and placed under a plastic grid. Then I doubled the grid size onto tracing paper and made my sketch to fit a 15" x 22" sheet of Winsor & Newton 140# watercolor paper.

Next, I painted the eyes to get the shapes, but not the detail. I blocked in the structure of the head and neck using Davy's gray and cerulean blue watercolors. This stage looks ghostly, but it does help you to put in strong shapes at the beginning, so you can capture dimension in the head and features. On top of the shadows, I layered thin glazes of yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and Winsor red for the skin.


I painted the lips, which really brought the face to life. Then I drew a few details in the straw hat, which I didn't want to be too busy. I also laid in the shadows on the folds of the scarf wrapped around the hat, but I decided to simplify the design and color and painted it freehand. I also painted in the detail on the earring. The one in the photo was twisted, so I used a different one from my jewel-case.

Here's the portrait after the scarf and shirt were completed. I enhanced the skin color and warmed up some of the dark shadows. I'm not sure if I'm finished. I'm thinking of softening the shadows in the neck. They need to be there, but they seem a little harsh. I didn't capture my expression exactly, but I think you can recognize me, anyway. At least, as I tell my class, it looks human. Here's a larger image.

Painting on Yupo

Over the weekend I viewed a CD by George James on painting watercolors on a unique surface: "Mastering Yupo: Techniques for Synthetic Paper" (Creative Catalyst Productions). Many of the paintings I've seen since Yupo first came in use rely on the erratic flow of watercolor on the slippery surface. Most of the artists who use it praise the capability of wiping back to the white surface, something difficult to do with watercolor on paper. James takes the technique to a new level by using thick layers of paint and blotting with facial tissue or smoothing with a sponge roller. He demonstrates a great variety of textures and techniques and explains them clearly in a laid-back manner. At one point he mentions that he uses cheap paint so he can lay down a heavy wash, but he doesn't name brands. His method retains the brilliance of the pure colors, since he doesn't use much water in the process. The end result of his abstract demo was a good representation of his many techniques. A gallery of his works shown after the demo reveal James to be an accomplished designer, especially with figures. His work is solid and not speckely like Yupo paintings become when artists struggle to get color down without lifting the washes beneath.

I recommend this video for anyone interested in experimenting with Yupo.