Real Model from life!
 

My first drawing done from life in my new studio!! I'm pretty happy with it. Her mom says, "too much makeup" and I say, "girl at 15"!!!

Thanks for looking!

Wow!
 

This is spectacular, Patricia! She really jumps off the page! So alive. :thumbsup:

I had to giggle about the makeup. I also have a 15 year old daughter. She and your model could be twins!

Hi Pat,

Congratulations on your first drawing from life! It's very successful!

She is gorgeous! I especially love her eyes, they are soulful. :thumbsup:

This is amazing! Very well done. Tell us about your new studio. Is it in your home or are you renting space?

Thanks Molly, Isabel and Virginia,
I scarf up the posititive feedback as I get blind to my own work and never know if it is good or not. I really struggled over the eye makeup thing, but in the end decided it was part of who she is at this age and really told a truer story of her fifteen year old self.

My studio is in my new townhouse. It is glorious. I just love being there. It is the third "bedroom" but since it was new construction I had vinyl flooring installed instead of carpeting and in the closet a utility sink was installed, so I have a place to wash brushes, etc. There are two north facing windows which run from 2ft from floor to about six feet and one west facting window (which I have hung blackout shades for the afternoon sun). The room is about 12 x 16 but it is amazing how quickly I have filled it up!! Still hard to get a set up for photography but works well for life drawing. The ceilings are vaulted - I love how open it feels. My fiance says we will probably stay a couple years but he doesn't know I may never want to leave this space ;)

Pat, congrats on such a beautiful job from life! I'm giving you a virtual hug.

Thank you, Master :sunnysmil

Grasshopper

Let me add my congratulations Pat. . . this is beautiful! :)

Thanks, Terri! Any suggestions on how to matt and frame it? I want to experiment with matting, square? elongated?

Pat, I've got a question. Do you matt and frame your own drawings? I want to start doing mine, (custom framming is too expensive for me now), but don't know how. Can you give me some tips?


Sorry, I'm no matting expert... :P

What a nice work pat!

Beautiful and sensitive.

Pat,

What a lovely and successful piece! How you were able to draw her from that angle?

Congratulations

Patricia,

Just beautiful. I cannot believe how far you have come in such a short time. Your father's portrait is exquisite and touching also.

Very nice!
 

If you are keeping the portrait for yourself, you can frame it temporarily until you get an inspiration. That will protect it and give you a chance to see how it looks on a wall with at least some kind of mat and frame to start with.

Whatever you do, try to avoid cropping any more of the l paper than absolutely necessary. You can't get that back.

We'll look forward to seeing what you decide.

You are all making me feel so much better! As I shared with Jimmie in a private email, I drew this four times and almost threw this one into the trash. But my fiance insisted I put her on the wall and let it "perculate" for a week, which I did and decided to finish up and call it a keeper. But I was really not sure about it.

Isabel, I purchased a matt cutting tool. I am at the office so I can't give you the name of it now, but I will get it to you. It cost about $75 and is great for cutting matts. I buy real cheap black frames. A couple times I have built my own wooden frames from the kits you can get in craft stores, too. Aside from the initial $75 expense it is so much cheaper than having work framed, which I cannot afford to do either!

If you have ever seen Anthony Ryder's drawings you should check them out. He uses the same tinted Canson Tiennes paper and mats his drawings in the same paper only a different shade. It looks real nice and I have seen his work hanging in galleries this way - simple black frame.

Chris, my model stood leaning against a window and I sat on a low stool with my sketchpad. I also took pictures of her from the same angle which turned out bad, so I had to bring her back to the studio a few times for detail on features. She is a GREAT model and cheap!!! She is my niece and extremely willing to pose for me all summer :)

Now that is a very beautiful drawing of a beautiful girl. Such a gentle touch to your work. It's so nice!

Pat, this is gorgeous. And what a great angle!

Pat, this is beautiful!

Thanks a lot, Pat!

I have a drawing custom frammed, which cost me $180. 4 of my other drawings were matted (but not frammed yet) by a local frammer, and it cost over $200 altogether. I think I can save at least half of the money if I start doing my own framming and matting now.

Funny, you mentioned about Anthony Ryder, I'd just ordered his book from Amazon.com last night. :)

Thank you Thomas, Debra, Kim and Lisa :) :) You make my day! I am partial to the angle as well, Kim. It makes her look as vulnerable as we know they are at fifteen!

Isabel I am glad you ordered Anthony's book. You will really enjoy it and learn so much from him. I bought two copies, one I tore pages out and used them to copy as studies. I also took his week long workshop almost two years ago and he is a very meditative teacher in that his approach is almost zen like in how he searches out shadows which so succinctly define likeness and form. He is amazing to watch in person.

Ah.... I envy you... wish I live in the US too. Here in Sydney, we're not so lucky. I haven't seen or heard about any great portrait artist, in fact I haven't even seen a gallery that sells realistic art or portraiture. All the art competitions are dominated by Abstract art. It's really frustrating!


I went through every major book stores, searching for Anthony's book but got no luck. Had to ordered it online and pay another $15 for the shipping. The books's only $15, I (correction: my Mum ;) ) paid $31 and I won't get to read it until 30 June... :(