Wip

[Susan Soto]

Hi, Linda,

First of all, I agree with the clumped up dark values. This photo is from 1963 and was made in one of those old photo booths. It is 1" x 1". Holding it up to the light and even using my light table did not tell me what the dark value was. So I assumed it was hair. I even blew it up but that did not help. I was told by the owner that their hair (the girls') was brown. The older girl had very dark brown hair.

Now how I apply these powders is another story. I use all sorts of things, and sometimes with many layers with a workable fixative in between. Some of my tools are a little unorthodox in the artist world but I use what works. I will list a few here.

Applicators:
1. Tortillions
2. Stumps
3. Artist brushes
4. Eye make-up applicators (work wonderfully)
5. A new tool I found in an art store (new to me) called color shapers, made by Royal Sovereign Ltd. UK. They can be used to take off color and blend and come in a variety of shapes.

Blenders:
1. Shammy (chamois is the correct name, I think. It is used to buff cars.)
2. Felt
3. Kleenex (the thick ones without lotions)
4. All kinds of papers
5. And anything else that will give me the texture I am looking for
6. Make-up sponges

Most of the stuff I came about accidentally, but all for the better. Oh, did I say I let a pencil touch my portrait every now and then?

Thanks for your comments and if you have any suggestions for the black hole, let me know. I left it there because I thought this portrait needed a dark value with all the lightness going on.