2nd attempt...

[Chuck Yokota]

Hi Jimmie,

You are making terrific progress! This is amazing improvement.

It looks like you are painting up to the lines of your sketch and stopping. You won't be able to do this perfectly from both sides, so it will give your edges a bit of a stitched-together appearance. Try painting overlapping the lines and pushing back the edge with color from the other side. This frees up your brushwork and helps you to think more in terms of areas rather than lines. As you become accustomed to this, you will have more confidence in being able to make corrections to your drawing on the spot.

If you are pressed for time, look at everything you are doing and try to move everything that isn't actual painting as much as possible out of the pose time. Premix a range of values on your palette ahead of time, thinned with medium as needed. Have enough brushes on hand so you can use different ones for different ranges of values and for each brush size you need, so you won't need to spend any time cleaning brushes during the pose, but just clean them up at the end.

[Jimmie Arroyo]

Models always move, wiggle, droop, yawn etc. If you EVER find one that has the ability to stand still, treat her like gold.

I wouldn't expect anyone to sit or stand perfectly still, but what made this funny, is that you knew she was doing it to keep herself awake. I mean, she was constantly scratching herself and opening her eyes real wide, then she looked like she was gonna doze off. I have never seen a model move so much, but the other guys thought she did a great job. I figure they don't see many nude young women anymore.

have you tried having some fun, putting some limited color on your palette and using deliberate strokes before blending? I think it is really helpful in seeing the planes of the face

Hmmm, I'm eventually gonna add color, but I'd like to get more comfortable. If I introduce color now, I know I'll be worrying about it and I'll stiffen up. Monday nights are the only day I have to paint, I don't have time during the week. I am making color charts at work though.

I'm putting two colors per canvas, so far I've done Pthalo Blue, Ultramarine, Sap Green, Veridian, Venitian Red, and Alizarin Crimson. Today I will try to do Naples Yellow and Yellow Ochre.

I haven't been trying to blend; the values may be close and look smoother on screen. I'd like to stay away from blending. And I guess I'm not doing it right, but I thought I was making value planes before I added the more opaque layers.

Chuck, good ideas. I tried the premixed values, but it felt too mechanical. I tried it because I had seen D. Greene do it in a video tape my co-worker let me borrow. I'll try the brushes thing, maybe clean them during the five minute break, I don't have enough brushes to go without regular cleaning. Thanks.

We should be getting someone new this Monday, hopefully I can get a nice spot. Thanks everyone.

[Sharon Knettell]

That is Bad Jimmie! You poor thing, it is really hard to paint a moving target.

I guess the other guys were riveted on the parts that weren't moving.

Good luck next time!