DAILY PAINTING: Stick drawing is done on large sheets of paper on the floor. You draw upon it by standing upright & holding a charcoal-tipped stick (yes, from a tree!) in both hands. The stick flexes & the charcoal does not run evenly on the paper, so it's difficult, to say the least! It's impossible to draw anything small or detailed, so the image must be drawn large & then reduced. I've traced small groups of letters from the large sheets onto 8 x 10" paper to break dow

DAILY PAINTING: You might remember the "stick drawing" technique that I described when I painted the be-YOU-t-ful series, and here it is again. You see the stick, with a piece of charcoal taped to the business end. My concept for these two portraits is that they create a "dialogue", so I'm going to use actual dialogue from a novel, & I'm using this technique to give the text a fresh, unique look.

DAILY PAINTING: Glad to be well enough to work again! Though I can feel that the cold is not quite fully gone--ugh! Perhaps I can get some rest and head off a relapse. Anyway, you see that I've done a charcoal value study (upper) and a pastel color study (lower). The painting is coming along nicely, and I've spent a lot of time "embroidering" the surface with lots of interest. But now I need to focus, balance and adjust. The value study showed me that I needed to darken

NO PAINTING--I'm sick and have been all weekend. So I have no choice but to be patient and wait to feel better.

DAILY PAINTING: My goal today was to continue to block in enough color to cover the remaining canvas. There are a lot of adjustments yet to be made, but it pulls together more and more. I'm happy with it so far and look forward to finishing it soon. Thanks for sharing the journey with me!

DAILY PAINTING: Portrait series, cont'd. I have begun to block in color for the male portrait, and you can see him emerging from the background. I'm pleased with the overall progress and am eager to see what happens tomorrow!

DAILY PAINTING: The previous two pastel studies were done to help me decide on and "see" the palette for these two portraits. Here, I have translated that palette into oil. I chose not to use any resin, to keep the paint fresh & workable for the longest possible time, knowing I want to work both canvases simultaneously.

DAILY PAINTING: Portrait series, cont'd. I wanted to try the same palette I used yesterday on this composition, and I found that I needed to use a deeper, higher chroma blue for the shadows. Other than that, the palette seems to work well enough. I'm working the two portraits as companion pieces since I see it as a "dialogue".

DAILY PAINTING: Portrait series, cont'd. I had a certain palette in mind for my daughter's portrait, and though an artist can "see" the painting in his or her mind's eye, you still have to "think" on paper. Clearly, I've used scrap paper. But the study tells me what I need to know. You see my old drawing board through the holes!

DAILY PAINTING: Portrait series, cont'd. Let me introduce you to my daughter, Jessie, whom I've been drawing since she was born. She's always been a very generous & willing model. Since the male model was facing left profile, I realized that I could have her facing right, as though she's talking to him. The two portraits together could create a conversation.