The unfolding story of how I became a professional artist (week 28)

Thanks everyone for stopping by this week. I've been feeling a lot better about my watercolors on the figure this week. I think I've for the most part been able to get over the hump of going in to quickly and muddying up my colors. Some of the nice crisp edges on this one are really working. I've been meaning to do a few studies of zorn and sargent paintings to get a better feel for lost and found edges but I think it's also important to struggle a little bit first so that I can get to know my weaknesses.

Sometimes it's nice to go back to doing grey scale practices to get the values really honed in. It's definitely a different way of seeing. I've noticed that it's pretty easy to lose focus on values when color is involved. I've seen some really beautiful paintings done in only one color but with the right values to describe the shapes. Eventually I would like to challenge myself to a one color painting.

For the last painting I zoomed in a bit for more of a portrait and I really liked trying out the edge practice on her face. From using pencil a lot I think I've developed a habit of just softly shading areas that are in shadow and it doesn't really have the same impact. It's a difficult thing to do but being more intentional and mindful about the strokes I'm laying down in watercolor has been very rewarding for me. Thanks again for tuning in, I look forward to sharing more next time. Have a great week Steemers!