#5, #6, #7

So far the run down of portraits goes...
1. Hop
2.Cassie
3.Bryana
4. Eric
5. Amber
6. Fiona
7. Maggie
8. Rowan
9. Jack
10. Self Portrait
11. Amy
12. Anabel

Here, I'll talk about #5, #6, and #7 along with pictures in progress.
# 5 Amber-
I really enjoyed painting this portrait. It started out not looking the way I wanted it to, and at one point I struggled with finding a background color. I added Terra Rosa to my palette for the first time since college! It was necessary for Amber's flesh tone, and I fell in love with the color all over again!

Amber is such a sweet kiddo. As we chatted and I painted, I learned so much about her life and really appreciated her view of the world. She is so peaceful and kind.

#6- Fiona
What a cool name, for starters! It fits her face. She 'looks' like a Fiona!

When I first started this portrait, I had triple booked Maggie, Rowan, and Fiona. I started with Fiona first because she had to leave early, and I wanted to get her roughed in before she left. I ended up having good progress on three portraits that day!  At some point I became discouraged in this portrait, and began painting it upside down to readjust some of the key shapes and forget about painting a likeness. Upside down drawing is a frequent warm up activity for students to learn to overcome challenges in drawing by taking the "object" out of the task and causing a shift from the left to right brain.

And Maggie...Maggie has been fun to paint. She wasn't having the best day the day we started the portrait, but sitting for me gave her some chill time. One thing I simply adore about Maggie is how much she laughs. She laughs non stop. She is always very funny, has such colorful stories, and is very genuine.  The colors in this portrait seemed to develop into a mauve or dulled brilliance of color. I am guessing this is a technical issue because after beginning three portraits in one day my turpentine was likely dirty and in need of settling.

Looking at all 3 pictures while creating this post has really made me notice the desperate need to upload the recent Amber. This picture doesn't do it justice!