Brush pen and white pastel.
Month: September 2015
Birthday portrait
I finished the portrait of my daughter I started a few weeks ago as a birthday gift for my mom. She had taken a photo a long time ago and asked for a painting, and this is it. Happy birthday mom!
This is the first proper human portrait I have tried, and I think it came out pretty well. It’s 22×30 and I painted it with a #6 Princetone Neptune quill and a #12 sable round 
I am sure there is a lot I could correct if I fuss with it more, but I think I will leave it here and take the lessons for the next one.
Early washes of a 22×30 portrait. I haven’t painted in weeks. It’s nice to get back at it. I haven’t worked this large before. It’s liberating. I plan to handle this loosely with like Sargent and come in over top with opaque a for highlights and color corrections. I have enjoyed doing that on toned paper sketches. Trying to take those lessons to the bigger works.
The Whale and the Wind
I liked the whale weathervane at my aunt’s neighbor’s house and the idea of a whale being light enough to gauge the wind. Reminds me of Calvino’s essay on lightness. 
Corey Aber 