Guadalupe

"Guadalupe"  (Watercolor)  © C. Eastwood, 2013

This painting is based on a small black and white photo of a friend's grandmother as a young woman.  In the original photo, Guadalupe is surrounded by four beautiful children.  When I saw it, I asked if I might use the photo as a basis for a painting.  Permission was graciously granted...and here she is.  She's just so regal looking.

Girl in White Blouse

"Girl in White Blouse"  (Watercolor)   C. Eastwood, ©2013

Continuing on in my quest to improve painting faces during this Spring semester.  I'm hopeful we'll get to stay with the portraits, although the instructor was making some noises about painting sandwiches next.  (?!?)  Something to do with textural changes and what have you.  We just think she's hungry and is focusing on food since class starts during the lunch hour -- but who knows; I guess we'll find out.

Washington Weary

"Washington Weary"  (Watercolor)  C. Eastwood, 2013

I thought it was about time to try doing another male face.  It's interesting to see the differences in facial structure and proportions compared to painting a woman's face.  Anyway -- here it is. 

Ethel as a Young Woman

"Ethel as a Young Woman"  (Watercolor)  C. Eastwood, 2013

This one is special for me.  It's my grandmother, Ethel Turner (the original ET!).  My instructor suggested I go ahead and try for a monochromatic sepia-tone since it's an old photo.  I'll probably need to revisit this at some point and try to get the likeness better, but it was fun to work on.  Since I never knew her other than as my sweet (but very old) grandmother, I like to think she'd be pleased that the first picture I've tried is a significantly younger version. 

Shared Sorrow

"Shared Sorrow"  (Watercolor)  C. Eastwood, 2013

This is the second painting I did in class the other day after completing "Blue Eyes."  It's based on a tiny photo that I found in a magazine and it just really captured my imagination.  I call it "Shared Sorrow," and for me it celebrates wonderful friends who come along side for support when the going gets tough.

Blue Eyes

"Blue Eyes"  (Watercolor)  C.Eastwood, 2013

So here we are, week two, and I've decided to focus on the face and work on developing my technique that will hopefully be less rigid but still respect the fact that I'm just not a "loose" painter!  Actually, I'm pretty happy with this one.  And surprisingly enough -- so was the instructor.  Yay!

Exploring Portrait Styles

"Study in Blues"  (Watercolor)  C.Eastwood, 2013

"Girl in Green"  (Watercolor)  C. Eastwood, 2013

Watercolor class has started back up for the Spring and we're picking up where we left off last semester on working with faces.  The challenge was to paint with less detail (in preparation for putting people in street scenes or landscapes). The "Study in Blues" kind of fits what the instructor is looking for, but I wandered off back toward adding in features in "Girl in Green."  (I just couldn't help myself!!)  But considering I haven't touched a watercolor brush for two months, I felt like these were good opening exercises.  More to come!