THE LAST TWO

Here are the last two charcoal portraits of the 5 grandchildren I did for my friends in Calgary. I used the same process that you saw in the first 3 portraits. The 5 framed pieces are hanging together in the grandparents' home for everyone to enjoy - for now. One day, in the distant future, when the kids have grown up, each one will receive his or her portrait as an inheritance. They can then show their own children and grandchildren what they looked like in the year 2013. What a privilege it is for me to be a part of this heritage item!

Charcoal on toned paper
9" x 12"

Charcoal on toned paper
9" x 12"

Learning a new medium at night

Pastel portrait

I think I mentioned before that it has become our ritual at night for the adults to gather in the family room at night, and either watch a program on tv, read, play a game or generally relax and have conversation together. When the four of us get together after a busy day, there is usually some topic of conversation that we are ready to tackle!


During that time, my daughter and I usually have our drawing boards out, and are  enjoying a time of creating with our newest medium(s) - charcoal and pastel. Zebra and Two Burros are both black and white pieces that I did over the course of several evenings, and now I have ventured into color. 


Since I am just exploring, and have not taken or read any instruction on using pastels, I am not sure how one is supposed to create different colors. I think, though, that I would need to actually buy the color I need rather than being able to create the color like I do with paints...


Anyway, I used the colors I had to do this portrait - and it turned out to be a fun learning experience. :-) I do plan to do several more pieces in the black and white "series" as I loved how they turned out...