Sunday 24 November 2013

Portraits At AVA

I am writing this post in the spirit of 'warts and all'. This week at AVA we were painting portraits. Is there anything further outside my comfort zone than people or animals, especially when a likeness is required! I confess to not having a clue what I was about, but disciplined myself to look at the chosen image as just another set of shapes. Getting a likeness was not within my aspirations.....I just wanted a painting that looked reasonably like a human being.

I did have a quick look at some of the paintings in a book called 'The Figure In Watercolour: Simple, Fast And Focused' which is a lovely book for starting from, if you want to have a go at painting people.

I tried to keep the subject simple and the colours low key in the hope that any mistakes would not jump off the page, but I do apologise to Dave.. my daughters partner..for making him much less handsome that he really is!!

Thank goodness that is over for another year!
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16 comments:

  1. Polly Birchall24 November 2013 at 20:16

    Looking pretty much like him. I am impressed

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  2. Larry Reynolds25 November 2013 at 08:59

    Gee,I'd be happy with that.

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    1. Yvonne Harry26 November 2013 at 12:28

      Thanks Larry. Its just that I know I can paint the florals, and just want to produce the same high standards in other subjects. Too lazy to apply myself and practice!

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  3. Debbie Nolan25 November 2013 at 20:42

    Dear Yvonne - such a great portrait. Caught up on your last posts as well. Love those gorgeous tulips. Hope you have a lovely week.

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    1. Yvonne Harry26 November 2013 at 12:29

      Thanks Debbie. Been a bit preoccupied lately, must get down to some painting this week!

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  4. Unknown25 November 2013 at 22:21

    This is a lovely portrait demonstrating great control of your pigments. It's also not far from being a good likeness. A few little adjustments, for instance replicating the darks at either end of the mouth would get it closer to your source photograph.

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    1. Yvonne Harry26 November 2013 at 12:31

      Thanks Mick. You are right, in fact I would go so far as to say the whole painting needs a bit more 'umph' colour wise, with more shadows. Thanks for always posting supportive comments.

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  5. Anonymous26 November 2013 at 20:29

    Looks good to me! I like your colours.

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  6. Yvonne Harry27 November 2013 at 09:49

    Thanks Chris for the comment.Its great that you enjoy looking at the posts.

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  7. Peter Ward27 November 2013 at 09:55

    See you can turn your hand to anything if you try!

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    1. Yvonne Harry27 November 2013 at 15:37

      Thanks Peter, but not really sure that is true, and except for club mornings, not really sure I want to. The passion for florals is always too big a pull!!

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  8. Unknown28 November 2013 at 12:19

    That is quite a good likeness Yvonne.

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  9. Unknown29 November 2013 at 19:25

    Good likeness; what did Dave think

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  10. Yvonne Harry1 December 2013 at 11:44

    Flatterer!! Thanks for the comment. Dave thought I had made him a bit too chubby.

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