On my easel today 1-22-14

Rabbi Y'Shia Stebsa Dion, 8" X 10" acrylic painting and pencil sketch (on left)

This is my first attempt at painting a portrait. I did a study in pencil first.  I had taken some drawing classes a few years ago with Jeanne Lachance and I did remember some stuff about the planes of the face. I looked at a book too.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but I found painting the rabbi very challenging.  I used raw umber, mars black and titanium white (acrylic paints) to imitate sepia, which is used in many old photos.

The Watcher. Seagull at Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. Acrylic, 5" X 5"

I was very unhappy with this stretched canvas and won't buy that brand again (Artist's Loft).  I don't think it was primed properly.  Anyway, this is my last experiment (I hope) with limited colors. I just used ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and titanium white.  You can get interesting grays with complementary colors.  I had tried this many years ago with watercolors.  This was my first time trying this with acrylic paints.

Next canvas -- I will be back to full palette for a landscape with a lake.  I'm making a small study first (8" X 10") to see if I want to do a larger canvas of the image I chose.