Roy and Helen Portrait

Roy and Helen are old friends of my family. They are in their 80's and are a lovely couple who have welcomed various members of our family into their home and their lives. I decided to attempt a portrait of them and give it as a present.

They are both sun drenched to represent the fact that despite being in their twilight years they are still strong in spirit. In fact, they are very active in volunteer work and help others who probably are younger than they are! They are a loving couple and what I admire in them are:

1. The survival and strength of their relationship with each other
2. Their ability to seem so young and be such contributors to society and the community when they are already in their 80's
3. Never hearing them complain of any aches and ailments - when in fact, I guess people in their 80's would have more physical ailments than the rest of us

Here are a couple of close-ups:

Louise Portrait in Pastel

I've always wanted to try pastels but lacked knowledge about the colours. Then when sketching a portrait of Louise in charcoal on an A3 pad, I realised that the paper, whilst no heavier than cartridge weight, had the necessary grooves to hold pastels. As an experiment, I put pastel over the charcoal sketch. I am pleased with the colours achieved in the shadows, etc. Pastels are ideal for finer work and touching up a painting because you can add so much more detail.
The art shop did not have cream coloured paper in stock of the pastel texture, so I've decided to just paint a ground across acrylic paper and make further attempts this way.
Pastels are a medium that I'm familiar with, having dealt a lot with charcoal plus it has the advantage that one can stop and start anytime. It is easier to get some art in between chores and family life. As it doesn't dry up like acrylics, one doesn't need 2-3 hours stretches to make it worth while. However, it does present a limited palette even if it is possible to blend two or more colours on paper.
Louise writes: "I like it A LOT and T (her daughter) thinks it looks just like me. Well done- now can you get rid of the wrinkles and grey hair on my real face !!!! "

Portrait in red and green

My friend Eunice has masses of lovely red hair which I was always itching to capture. She has the pale complexion found in redheads but no freckles! Lucky lady. Anyway, Eunice obligingly posed for a portrait.

Because of her red hair, I decided that a yellow-violet combination would not go as well as a red-green colour scheme. I did this over a few hours and painting is so much easier than drawing when it comes to portrait because if it doesn't fit, just paint over it! Erasing drawings is messy and leave smudges.

When I showed this to my 5 year old, she identified Eunice enthusiastically and immediately and when I asked if it was because of the red hair, she agreed but then added that other things 'looked like Eunice'. Eunice thinks that a 5 year old will always be honest.