Art in the Carolinas

Last weekend, I attended a couple of classes at the Art of the Carolinas event in Raleigh, NC. I went to this last year and learned so much that it's what I asked for this year for my birthday. I took another class with Betsy Dillard Stroud who marries watercolors, acrylics, stamps and washi papers to create abstract portraits that have so much punch and personality, not to mention vibrant colors. It was similar to the class I took with her last year, but watching her create a painting in 3 hours was invaluable as I could see her and hear what she was thinking as she chose colors and pattern and the loose style she uses is just fun to watch!

The other class I took was a class on creating charming children's portaits in pastels. I loved this class...it was all new to me as I had never worked in pastels. This is the portrait we did in class:




When I came home, I began a portait of my grandmother, below.
Showing age on a portait, wheather a young child or an older adult, is a tricky thing and I have much to learn. This is the beginning stages, but it's not quite "her" yet, so there's more to do:

The next day, I took a picture of my 16 yr old when he was about 4 and did a portait. I have some finish work to do and need to work out a couple of areas, but am happy with it so far. I went and bought a small pack of pastel "pencils" to help me get fine line details around eyes and mouths. These are smaller than 11x14, so when I graduate up to a larger "canvas", it won't be has hard to get those fine lines, but with this size, I was having a hard time getting the edge of a pastel stick to give me what I needed. I bought a couple of different types of pastels while at the show and am having to learn how they work with one another. I thought I was getting hard pastels at the Holbein booth, but got them home and they were soft. (Note to self: READ!!!!!) My friend, Sherie, says she really likes the soft, so I just need to learn to use them...we used mostly the hard in our class last weekend. Oh, the teacher's name was Luana Luconi-Winner from Raleigh. She was a great teacher and taught us some "short cuts" that help teach values and light on the subject.