A Birthday Day

Today is my sweet little girls birthday. She probably wouldn't like that I am sharing this particular picture. I am always trying to capture that pouty mouth in my paintings.

Haven't yet. Nevertheless, this picture was my inspiration for this journal page.

I have made six journal pages now and I thought I would share with you some things I have discovered. Not about my inner self so much but about my painting challenge.


I challenged my self to paint faces without first doing a pencil sketch. I've challenged myself to use other than flesh skin tones. I challenged myself to paint the face right across the middle of the book. I challenged myself to not paint hair and then I did. Paint hair.



The first thing I discovered was there is not much difference doing the sketch with paint instead of pencil. As a matter of fact, I think I prefer it for now.

This is not a discovery but even though I know the eyes are right in the middle of the face/head, I have a hard time with that. I clearly always make the nose too long.

The face on the first four pages were painted out of my head. I was just trying to get a human face on paper. I was pleased. Then, on "upside down world" posted yesterday, I was actually looking at a face (that was not in color) when I painted her. I enjoyed just laying in the light and dark colors and enjoyed seeing the loose effect. Something I long to do but can not stop blending and blending.

That was so much fun that I thought to use this picture of my daughter to paint my next page. I cropped the picture to the same ratio as the book spread. Then printed it but about 1/4 the size of the book spread. Here is what I discovered. I could not help but try to paint a "likeness" since I knew who the picture was. And so I kept blending and blending and overworking it.

Of course, I did not get the likeness and stopped trying when I realized that I was trying too. Getting the likeness was not part of my challenge. Another day for that. I moved the chin up more than once and move the mouth up once but never moved the nose. Anyway I really like it and maybe it is just me but she seems to be more of a portrait than any of the others.

Also, I like the composition of the photograph with the perpendicular lines that the door frame gave and I mimicked that with the paper napkin. I may paint in a little more definition on the flowers or I may decide enough.

I'm planning to have a great Monday. Hope you are too.

Enough for now,

Sharon