Hi Michelle, I was almost afraid to post my irritation with holidays here too. It seems almost unpatriotic to prefer painting to shopping and baking! But often I looked longingly at my easel or pastels or at least a pencil.
Peggy, your post wasn't here earlier. I appreciate your reply, and the charcoal of your son is beautiful. I like the first picture a lot also (especially the hair sticking up). My concern with that one is that it seems too much like a posed photographers shot with the perfect lighting. Kind of like the very stylized year book pictures of the prom queen. If this is just my own prejudice coming through just say so. I used to be one of them (haha). You're on my list of people to study with, so your comments are appreciated. I may be able to manipulate these photos on the computer to bring up more detail. There seems to be a lot of features on my camera and computer that I am unaware of. Just call me clueless.
Jean