back again...LOL

yeah.. i'm on a roll!! back again, in less that a year LOL

first of all want to thank babasteve for his wonderful photo... i love his work!!

most of you might be aware i've been on a portrait journey.. trying to figure out how to and what is my style?? well i'm still on it..

every time i see someone else's wonderful portrait style, i think wow!!! i love that i've got to try a little of this or that!! but when i get painting..the brushes take over and that idea goes out the window.. does that happen to any of you?? maybe i have found my style???? or maybe it's changing, but only by little bits and pieces?? i dont know, but i'm sure having fun on this journey!!

i belong to a small portrait group and this is the challenge for sept.. it was fun.. i learned a lot :) any thoughts or suggestions are always welcome and appreciated... thanks for stopping by and have wonderful day!!

My daughter in laws, father...

mothers day is just around the corner and i wanted to give my daughter in a law a painting of her dad.. she doesnt see him much and he hasn't been feeling well... i took this picture on christmas, when he came up from mexico to visit.. i hope she is surprised and pleased...

also want to say hi to all of you.. i've misssed you all.. i've been painting .. but that is about it.. being the only driver in the house,now... has sure made a change in what i can find time to do... i'll adjust soon... but till then please know im stopping in when i can and trying to say hi as often as i can.. if i dont get back before mothers day.. please have a wonderful day!!

my rendiction of caravaggio's judith

was looking at following the masters blog.. http://followingthemasters.blogspot.com/ thanks michele!! and thought id like to try one... and so i foung judith on google.. well after painting i learn the real name is not judith.. but judith at a beheading of some sort... wow!! i sure know how to pick em!!! LOL.. i really like trying the masters challenges.. i struggle with darks and getting values right.. and with all the mud like stuff they put on their faces, i have to really do the darks and think about the values.. hope it sticks in my brain when i paint my paintings.. not the mud.. but that value lesson!! hee hee!!

thanks for stopping by and have an awesome day!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

wanted to thank you all, for your encouragement,ideas and friendship!! 2009 has been my first year blogging and i love it!! you are all so talented and helpful!!! love seeing all your exciting paintings and creativity.. WOW!!! i want to try it ALL!!...LOL thank you!!

wanted to wish everyone of you a very merry christmas.. hope your holidaysare filled with close friends and caring family~~ AND lots of love and laughter!!

happy new year and happy painting~~
cindi

Grandson Joshua!!

this is my grandson Joshua... he took this photo while playing with is new camera.. and then photo shopped it.. i loved the results!! i had a challenge to paint values.. using only two colors.. and i thought perfect photo.. the two colors i used were quin burnt orange and french ultra marine blue!! as usual think i should have my darks darker, but obviously this isn't going to be an over night fix!!! LOL must be a stubborn gal!

yesterday hubby left for ohio for a few weeks to be with his family.. as i've mentioned before, he has early onset alzheimers... well getting ready for the trip really pushed him down that path farther.. it was quite unsettling seeing how much he struggled.. i almost cancelled the trip, but his mom is getting older and i was concerned that he might not have this chance, again..... hope after a few days of being there, he will settle in ok!

using the alone time wisely ~~ heading out to see a few gals from high school for few days.. with 7 of us chatting and giggling .. hoping it will be just what the doctor ordered!!.. i'll see ya all as soon, as i get back

have a nice week! and HAPPY PAINTING!

My entry in the follow the masters blog!!

first of all thank you michelle at following the master blog...(http://followingthemasters.blogspot.com/) decided to give this a try... looked on google and came up with this lady she is antonelo da messina.. she is a renaissance master artist, from sicily!!

to be honest not sure if i fell in love with her beautiful face or that she had a scarf covering her head, which meant, no hair to paint.. yippee!!

i had lots of fun with this.. i realize we are just giving our interpatation, but its really a learning process also.. i struggle with darks and in this one i really had to throw them in to get the curvature of her face.. way more than i usually do.. but it turned out good, so maybe i can kick it up a notch in the next one and not be so whimpy!!.. heres hoping anyhow!!

leaving for a few days in palm springs..its hot hot hot over there, but should have fun.. taking my new watercolor travel palette with me, so we'll see if i play or paint...??
have a good week everyone!!

Picture in the mirror!!

first of all thank you david for the self portrait challenge(http://spgloballovein.blogspot.com/)

the challenge was to paint a self portrait, wearing head gear of some sort!! my first thought was, i'd just paint a bag over my head.... worked for halloween many times..LOL but then i went in and took a few pictures looking in the mirror and this one seem to work.. the only thing was, when drawing my pencil zigged when it should have zagged and i had the quickest, cheapest face lift of all.. nice looking neck line.. so liking that look..A LOT, i just left it!! hee hee!!

why cant other things in life, be so dang simple!!??

its wishy washy time again...

well nora and i challenged each other to try darker skin tones this week, on our wishy washy challenge, in painting friends!!..both our painting attempts lately, have been a bit weak in the dark value areas.. so we got a neat photo from wc.. called namibian girl.. offered by patrick hedges.. thank you patrick!!

we were going to try and do this in chas reid style.. (so much for that !!! LOL) this is my third attempt and might try again, but time was up for our challenge.. i used only three colors.. fu marine blue, quin burnt orange and a bit of perm. aliz crimson for jacket and lips...

it looks better on here, than in person!!! i like lots about it .. but i can also see room for improvement too!!

back to the painting easel!! tee hee .. have a good one!!

ps always open for critiques and suggestions.. thanks!!

Waiting~~

Wow~~~ this one was a good stretch for me.. have been wanting to try folks with different skin tones and this gave me the push, to give er' a try!!!

i want to thank karin, for providing the photo and the challenge.. 'this painting was done from a photograph provided on the blog, Different Strokes From Different Folks, where artists are encouraged to paint or draw their own interpretations.'

also need to thank roger for the ideas on skin tone!!!

over all ,i'm pretty pleased with the painting.. except i got so excited about making the color sing on the face, i forgot about the features.. and they were kinda a last minute scramble.. sorry sir.. you got a mini face lift!! lol oh well there is always next time!!!

sweet lady!!

I noticed liz holm's wonderful painting on her blog and went to windows to the words(http://windowstothewords.blogspot.com/ )and noticed the challenge was over.. darn!!!

but, also noticed that liz had offered this photo for the challenge.. so i wrote her and asked if i could have permission to use this photo for noras and my wishy washy challenge, on Painting Friends!! she was a sweetie and said yes!! nora and i have been exploring portraits. we started with young children and are working our way up... we wanted to try wrinkles this week..... this ladys sweet face is stunning.. and has the perfect balance of light and shadow.. so we decided to go for the gusto and put the colors in we see and see what happens..?? we both seem to have difficulties taking risks with color.. i haven't seen her's yet, the unveiling is tomorrow.. but i am really pleased how this turned out... i think the only thing i would change, is maybe her hair.. i forget to misket a lots of strands for highlights.. so went in after and used the exacto blade to give a few more highlights...and it left some dots...ARGGGGHHHHHH!!! but other that that, had a blast!!

For our final class this semester, we did a portrait.. we used three colors.. aliz crim, yellow ochre, and fum blue.. (i did sneak in a bit of cb, and qo..!!) the teachers example had a hat and i thought, hmmmmmmm??? not a bad idea, then i don't need to do the hair!!!! LOL

so got out an old gardening hat and asked hubby if he would pose?? sadly he didn't smile~~ as the sun was in his eyes, but actually the gruff, rough and tough look, added to the cowboy mode!! don't ya' think?? rather pleased with this one.. and my favorite part i think is the eyes.. see close up!! so off to find another unsuspecting person, to try again..!!

the sun is shining and outdoors is calling my name...planted tomatoes yesterday, stung up the boysenberries, before they got out of control and netted the fruit trees before the birds ate all the fruit.. so today may sit by the pond and kick back and enjoy!!

Thought i would give Ellie another try.. Seeing if i could make her look more her age!! She is such a beautiful little girl.. She is so fun to paint!!

Going to a face drawing class tomorrow. This will be a one time shot with a different teacher.. Looking forward to it!!

Did this for a portrait challenge in painting friends.. like most of it, but she looks older than her 5 years.. hmmmmmm????Guess I need to redo or make changes...lol

Back to the drawing board