Purple Hat #2

I've been going to watercolor classes with Robin Poteet at The Studio School in Roanoke for over a month now.  We are concentrating on the styles of Charles Reid and Mary Whyte for the painting of portraits and historic figures.  The big painting is the second version of the Purple Hat I have painted.  This one is twice the size of the first.  I like her fairly much but feel the hand on her necklace looks likes someone else reaching into the painting!  Too funny.

I find the biggest challenge in painting portraits--besides getting a likeness--is trying hard not to over paint, to keep messing with the skin tones until they get muddy.  This lovely lady of color I think stayed within bounds and has a lot of attitude.

The smaller painting is from the same photo but looks quite different.  The second hat is much better than the first and the face is friendlier.  I like things about each portrait and dislike as well.

The class is excellent.  Each session provides a challenge for me.  I've learned that choice and strength of colors is one of my biggest challenges each time.  I have been discouraged lately because I want to be the best in the class and I am not.  We all look at Robin's work and declare that we should just quit and go home because hers is so amazing and she makes it look so simple.  We've all been challenged when trying to do the very loose Charles Reid style complete with drips and spots. These two portraits are closer to the Mary Whyte style which is much more controlled.

One lady in class did a portrait of her great grandmom and when it was finished said, "poor grandma, she didn't deserve what I did to her today."