African Woman - Side Profile

Side Profile Drawing

This was done with a 3H pencil on hot press watercolor paper 140lb 8x8".  It's an attempt at doing a portrait of Barbara Striesand, but it doesn't quite work for me.  The nose and lips are a bit off.  Still, I enjoyed drawing it and I like the profile.  I've been considering specializing in side profile drawings and paintings for some of my work time.  It's been about two months since I got back into visual arts. A lot of times I get into a creative streak but it usually only lasts for a couple of months.  This time feels different.  Part of what is holding me to it is that I need to earn income.  I tried to earn income nine or ten years ago and didn't sell much, but then I didn't promote and market myself enough either.    This time I'm trying to be business oriented, so I've been doing the research online and thinking about what I would like to sell.  I've just begun to use index cards to keep track of business/marketing ideas and art process ideas.  I realized that I had been doing several portraits in profile and I thought maybe that would be a good angle, a specialty that could identify me to potential collectors.

Shakes, Bodhi & Shanti

Art Process

This is an 8"x8" drawing that I did on clay board of a very dear friend's daughters.  My plan was to try out some Sennelier egg tempera paints to do this portrait.  It's been sitting on my drawing table against the wall for about a week.  I painted a self-portrait in egg tempera about twenty years ago.  Here it is:

This portrait was done just before I entered into psychosis in 1998.  I was in art school at the time and, though I wasn't psychotic yet, I was still struggling.  I liked working with the egg tempera that I concocted at home with dry pigments, water and egg yolk.  I think I mixed some watercolor into the yolk, but I'm not sure.  I gave the portrait to my parents.  I don't think my mother liked it too much, but I gave it anyway.  

So here I am about to try another portrait and I'm lacking in confidence.  Intellectually I know it is foolish to be afraid to begin painting a portrait.  And in my heart I know that what I respond to is the process.  I also like documenting the process and seeing the stages the work goes through.  So I know I want to do this portrait of my friend's daughters and I don't want to give up on it.  I just got some 140 lb hot pressed watercolor paper also in the 8"x8" size and I thought I could try to do another drawing of them and try out watercolor.  I'm not yet confident with the watercolors either, but the only way to get the confidence is through practice.  

I think fear is my greatest character defect.  Fear of failure, fear of success.  And this is why having a regular art practice might be a good direction for me because I have to begin again all the time.  I have to somehow face the fear and get past it.  

Today's Experiment In Art

Approximately 8"x10", 98 lb paper, Sennelier watercolors, Caran D'Ache watercolor crayons and a touch of black India ink.

I got an art workbook yesterday called The Paintbrush Playbook by Ana Montiel.  It has 44 exercises to try out with watercolor, acrylic and inks in the book.  I've tested out 4 so far.  She is trying to teach in a playful, creative way about the basics of water based painting.  I need the help.  I'm doing my best to let go into playing and experimenting, into getting closer to understanding the mediums and supports.  I'm tentative still.  I like working with abstraction because it sets me free to be more intuitive about line, color, value, brush choice, brush marks.  It takes some courage to face the blank page or canvas or board.  I think that one thing I like about abstractions such as this one is that I have to look for meaning and pleasure in it.  There's no deep message and yet something of my spirit is expressed.  That's good enough.