The Wood Children

Kimberly Dow · 03-06-2004, 10:01 PM

Wonderful Michele. You seem to be doing plenty - have you been getting faster do you think? Not that it is important at all, but I remember you had mentioned it.

Michele Rushworth · 03-06-2004, 10:27 PM

I have been getting faster, and though I don't know if every painting is better than the one before it, as Cynthia asked, I know my work has been getting better over time.

As an example, these two paintings took me about half the time I think they would have taken a year ago. It's mostly because I don't need to rework things as often, and because I plan more from the start.

Denise Hall · 03-06-2004, 10:51 PM

This is so beautiful, Michelle. I learn a lot from each portrait you post. Thank you so much. The little girl's love for her puppy really comes through! Congratulations on capturing that emotion.

Denise

Michele Rushworth · 03-06-2004, 10:56 PM

Glad you like it. The girl and the puppy is about as overly sentimental as you can get, but that's reality. She's completely in love with the little fluffball and hugs him all the time.

Jean Kelly · 03-06-2004, 11:26 PM

Hi Michele,

Overly sentimental in this case is delightful, she makes me smile. And he is all boy, in his attitude and relationship to his bud. I love it! But then I'm a sucker for animals.

Jean

Linda Brandon · 03-06-2004, 11:28 PM

Michele, these are so beautiful! I love these. You must have a secret for getting those edges so soft, what is it?

Elizabeth Schott · 03-07-2004, 12:20 AM

Michele, wow - everyone has said it above! I just hope you rubbed off on me just a bit in AZ!

Leaps 'n bounds!

Michele Rushworth · 03-07-2004, 01:03 AM

The soft edge-making technique I use is something I learned from Bill Whitaker. I have a drawer full of dead, fuzzy sable and synthetic brushes that I use as blending brushes, in all different sizes.

I blend one color into another and then grab another clean, dry blender brush for the next color areas. As Bill said, you need a lot of clean blenders each day, doing this (or you can clean them with fast drying acetone for the next colors you want to blend, but I don't use that). My good brushes get fuzzy so fast that the "blender" drawer fills up fast and I probably have fifty of them. This technique works especially well if you have to blend a wet area into a dry area. Then I go over everything I paint with a small fan brush and smooth things out even more.

Mary Sparrow · 03-07-2004, 08:38 AM

Michelle, these are just gorgeous. I have to agree with Cynthia, you really are improving by leaps it seems with every painting. Do you care to share your secret with me?

Michele Rushworth · 03-07-2004, 11:54 AM

Mary, you asked how I've been able to improve. Well, I paint for about five hours most days and have been doing that for almost three years now. People tease me for being so serious and intense about things when I get going, but that's how I am, I suppose (despite the airhead look I have in my photo over on the left).

I read and try to apply everything I learn on SOG each day, and read art books and art magazines when I'm eating my cereal. (See: serious and intense! I'm such a bore to be around, unless someone wants to hear about painting!)

With the last three portraits I've posted (Rachel by candlelight and these two) I've been really applying Tony Ryder's method, which I learned in his class in December and which you can read about in the demos on his site: www.tonyryder.com

Business-wise, I have production and financial goals that are very important to me each quarter and each year. Otherwise I might have to go and get a "real job" - heaven forbid! So basically I feel I have to succeed or face dire consequences.

And maybe the most important reason: I love painting so much that it's hard to put down the brush each day!