Marion

[Celeste McCall]

Dear Janet,
Thank you for taking the time to look at the painting and thanks for the post.

Dear Chris,
Yes, the pigment does have to do with the lifting ability but all can be pretty successfully lifted on the Clayboard. The transparent watercolors lift much easier. If the red was lifted (over the hat) it tended to leave a pink color. I then added cad yellow to those areas of hair and after that dried I could lift back to almost white. Don't know why that was possible, but it worked great.
The watercolor portrait was one of the easiest experiences with portraits that I've had in any media of portraits because of the Clayboard textured. It is so forgiving....sort of like the china.

This was much quicker and easier than porcelain portraits. Now THAT is hard...but fun and forgiving as well. You just never know what the kiln gremlins will do during the phases of firing.

I'm trying to get good enough with these watercolor portraits because a lady has given me some ivory pieces that she bought many years ago at the Vatican with the silver miniature frames that go with them. What a treasure! But a stiff challenge to be able to honor the pieces. So I'll work away with the watercolor until I get better.

Thanks for the post, Chris.

[Celeste McCall]

Also, I have washed back the upper left forhead because it did not bend enough. And added some more shadows on the coat. I probably did not leave enough negative space around the portrait, but will do better on future ones.

[Linda Brandon]

Celeste, this is so luminous and I love the colors. I really enjoyed seeing this develop. Thank you!

[Celeste McCall]

Thanks Linda. I really appreciate it when artists take their time to post a message. I learn so much from others and want to share my knowledge as well. Again, thank you, Linda.

[Kimberly Dow]

This is lovely. I do not usually care for watercolor portraits, but you got some rich color here.

[Celeste McCall]

Thank you very much Kim.

I really value your input here. It was nice to talk to you back in May. Stephanie sure has one great shop there in Uvalde. What a wonderful area of the world that you live in.

Thanks again Kim.

[Sharon Knettell]

Celeste,

What a lovely and thoughtful presentation. Watercolor is my Waterloo, it is very difficult to do well.

You painting reminds me of the English Pre-Raphaelites, especially Burne-Jones and Millais.

[Marvin Mattelson]

Beautiful job, especially considering you're experimenting with a brand new medium. I can't wait to see what you'll do once you actually get the hang of watercolor. I'm impressed.

[Celeste McCall]

Dear Sharon,

Thank you so much for the post. You are too kind.

I think that the watercolors make me really work, but it is very satisfying. It is very similar to what I paint on porcelain so it is perhaps easier for me, and yet, it dries very quickly here in Texas, so I have to learn to deal with that. A good mister, and lots of fluffy strokes working from the light back toward the darks and adding water to keep the edges from forming helps a lot in the skin work. Thank you again, Sharon.

Dear Marvin,

Thank you for the post. I hope that you know that I think that you are one of the greatest artists that there is today. Your portraits look real. One day I do hope to retire (in 2007) and then get the honor of taking a class or watching a demo of yours. Thanks again, Marvin.

[Marvin Mattelson]

Thanks Celeste, you're far too kind. I may be coming to Houston to do a workshop this May or June. Maybe you can take a temporary early one week retirement?