Self-portrait ill
 

Hi, this is the final drawing from the original posts in the 'works in progress' section. I did more erasing in this one than usual, and very little white pastel highlights.

Really Nice drawing!

Beautiful!
 

Beautiful drawing. I especially love the drawing of the hand.

Great work!

Mai

That's really terrific!

I don't know if you were experiencing a migraine when the photo was taken but, believe it or not, there is an art competition going on right now for art that depicts migraine headaches. (Strange but true.)

I saw a poster for the competition at the Scottsdale Artists School a month ago, so maybe it's not too late for you to enter this drawing, if you're so inclined. Contact the school and ask if they still have the poster and entry forms up in their student kitchen, if you want to enter.

I bet you'd win.

Thanks
 

Thank you very much for the compliments! I've always enjoyed the challenge of doing hands, I feel capturing their expression is just as important as the facial.
Michele, that is wierd. I'll try getting in touch with them to see if I have time. Thanks!

Jimmie,

Awesome drawing. I agree with Mai on your execution of the hand. Excellent. Were you watching the Nets in the Finals when this pic was snapped? Kidding....

Just good ole stress
 

Richard,

Thank you and no, not a Net fan! Long hours, little sleep, and air conditioning(killer combo) always give me headaches. That's ok because the NJ mega-million lotto jackpot is now $175 million.

No more long hours, get more sleep and buy an extremely expensive central air system that won't give me headaches. Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Emotionally charged
 

Jimmy,

I really like your drawing style, and ability to catch the emotion. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with color.

Jean

Held back
 

Jean,

Thank you. I'll be the first to admit that I've never had a great feel for color. I'm very intimidated by the process, due to lack of experience with pastel, or simply being a cement-head (my daughter's alternative name for knuckle-head). Although I hadn't made a pencil drawing since high school, it's all I did before that since I was four. Never used color until I started airbrushing when I was fifteen, and did that for about fifteen years but never had confidence using color. My old airbrush illustrations are on my website under the gallery area. A bit of warning, they're a bit on the spooky side. The bottom row piece called "Twins" is the only pastel I've done without feeling any restrictions. I've posted my pastel portraits in the "pastel critique section", but I've never really felt freedom doing them. I worry about the color constantly, which I hope goes away once I work more with pastels.

Maybe if SVA had given me some scholarship money, I would have attended Mr. Mattleson's class, and my fear of color would have disappeared. By the way Mr. Mattleson, if you are reading this, I've always had incredible respect for your work both as an illustrator and portrait artist. If memory serves me correct, I went to one of your talks at the Society of Illustrators about 10 years ago during their Wednesday night gatherings. If that wasn't you then I blame it on my lack of sleep?
Wow, I'm sorry for babbling! Bye.

I stand corrected
 

Hi Jimmie,

After checking out your pastels here and the airbrush work on your site I find it hard to believe that you are that uncomfortable with color. Please accept my apologies for making an assumption. Your pencil work shows that you love line, which is probably why I like it. I found that by thinking in blocks of color, I've been able to decrease my dependence on perfect line (and lots of them). Chris Saper's book "Painting beautiful Skin Tones with Color and Light" was an invaluable investment for me. I highly recommend it. Absolute control is very good in tatooing, but may not be as beneficial in artwork. It's just paper, let er rip, it'll be good for your headaches.

Jean