This is my brother Rick who was very kind to sit for me to practice portraiture. It is a nice feeling to study a face I have known for so long. I have watched the changes that map his life that he wears on his face. It was fun to study a face I thought I knew very well and find little things in the way his features are different then mine. I am the youngest of four. None of us look alike and I can say that I thought I was adopted when I was a kid. That was a fun fantasy, but I'm not, nor would I want to be. I like who we are, a family. We just are all parts of the parents we shared, but I swear we all got very different parts. Some kids share a likeness and some don't. We definitely are the later.
Drawing a face is a soulful experience for me, a real gift. In every angle, line, crease and shadow are many stories. A photo taken often hides truth and that is okay because often that is what we want. It is quick, a flash and all the work and practice to take a nice photo is over in, well , a flash. It is different when you sit for a portrait drawing or painting. A twenty minute sitting can take you away with many thoughts that take you far far away from the idea of a pretty picture.
I sat for a drawing session last week and felt everything about me settle and relax so that my mind could travel away. I was surprised to see what others drew. They saw the things I often hide. Not able to hold my chin up and jaw forward exposed time or the passing of time. My life seen through someone else's eyes. I love the process. I feel I must make a connection from my eyes, to my muscles in my hand, to the one that is sitting there so exposed.
So thanks Rick.
Well here is another in my self portrait series. Blew my hair out straight for a change. I should call this Dori Dew Two. Every time I draw one of these I know there is something off. I like to exaggerate my chin and fleshy jaw that does that loop da loop. It is a very good exercise in looking. I think the fact that I do these and find things that are not right is good. Makes me want to look harder and feel the form. I touch my face all the time when I'm trying to draw or paint myself. I just want to understand what is happening.
Yesterdays class project was to draw the skeleton sides by side with the model. We worked back and forth so to start understanding what lies beneath as we drew and looked for planes and values. It was a great exercise and the class results was amazing to see. It is a serious class of students which sets the bar. I love this class and am grateful to have a day to work at something I love to do.
I did this last week and wasn't going to post it for many reasons, but then I thought I needed a benchmark of my first attempt. It got a bit murky and stiff. Murky because I didn't clean my brush much in the process and carried paint back and forth between the dark side and the light side. Stiff, because I am not sure I was painting what I was truly seeing or just trying to get it down in an academic step process. Looking in the mirror at ones self is a challenge as there is a whole history to clear away to be honest with a self portrait. So many selves wrapped up in one. All true, but which one expresses best who we are for all to see. I will be working this out through an assignment I have to do in charcoal. I hope to do another in oil that better captures me. I am in there in pieces. Like a puzzle that doesn't fit together.
.jpg)
My son Wes loves avocados. He likes to eat them. I love the beautiful rich green skin, strong branch stems and their form. What was most important in the set up was where the shadows landed and the blue light that was being cast through the blue glass bowl. The arrangement was fun, but most of all I love green and blue. Doing 6x6's are good for experimenting without so much at stake. 
Hydrangeas hummm...This started from a painting that I decided to recycle. I realized as I went along that there was not much thought put into the process. I always struggle when I just start without a clear plan, which is true of almost everything. First I was completely seduced by the light coming in my window. That would have been okay for a quick small painting not a 20 x 16, which is large for me. The light changed rapidly and I caught myself chasing the light and everything else that had to do with this. I finally put it down and walked away in defeat. The next day I was still drawn to it and hoped to watch the light till it got back to where it was the day before. No such luck, before that happened I had to leave for class and felt once again defeated. I went on and painted the pumpkin painting, with this nagging feeling about giving up on the hydrangeas. So I picked it back up and continued to play and just let go of the hope of finding the light or the thing that caught my eye in the first place. 
