Yeah, I keep hoping my son will make it big in the music business (he's a acid jazz trombonist) and can support his mom!! It has only been a couple years since my kids have been out on their own (22 and 25). I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have this time to take classes. While I was raising the boys by myself I was envious of every artist pursuing his/her passion. Now I feel like I've been given this precious gift and studying/taking classes/drawing makes me so happy!

This was the first time I used the timer and only after I had the basic drawing done and was in the process of creating form. I have a tendency to get into the zone and three hours later my neck and back are killing me! Stopping every hour worked. I would go maybe 5 - 15 minutes longer but I did get up from my table, and either went out for a brief walk around the block, straightened the kitchen, made one quick phone call. Coming back refreshed helped me see better.

Well, hope springs eternal. I was a trombonist, and some would have characterized my talent as acid, and my daughter took up the same instrument (now in U.Maryland's "Mighty Sound"), but neither of us has cashed a check yet on it. I wouldn't sell the farm quite yet.

I'm a northerner -- farmer and woodsman -- now in a southern clime, and I have a woodsplitting maul that isn't getting much use. Send me that timer of yours.

Acid jazz and trombone were not adjectives I would have used in the same sentence before my son went "pro". There really is no name for what he does, but he oozes creativity and is currently in a band called the Aphrodisiatics, who were named the top band to watch/hear in 2004 in Cleveland, Ohio! This is the second time Kristopher Morron has made the top ten list in Cleveland. He is quite popular, with quite a local following, performing at the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame several times, many hot spots in the Cleveland warehouse district and posh private artsy clubs. I don't know if this will make him rich, but he is so dynamic one never can tell. And, the "hope springs eternal" of youth is to invigorating. I wish he could stay 25 and full of dreams and enthusiasms forever!

Northerner all my life, but longing to go south. Today, cold, rain/snow, dark, gray. But counting the days till I am in W Palm studying with Anthony Ryder! Oh but life is good.

Simple kitchen timer, Steven, works wonders!

Although my sister hasn't seen the portrait yet!

trying to get a better picture to post. When I flip this photo it distorts and makes her face look too long.

This is the photo reference, though I used it very little. I did go back and have Danielle sit for me so that I got her features correctly instead of the distortion from the photograph.

And a better close up

Great job, Pat. It has the look of being drawn from life. Just a note about the shoulder line behind the chin. Perhaps a little fill might reduce the tangent here, which also interacts oddly with the line of the neck to the left. The solitary line here is a little unsettling.