9x12 inches, colored pencil on tan notebook paper
Edwina, for Julia Kay's Portrait Party
I am not a huge fan of the annual Christmas rush, and also not fond of snow or cold weather, except that winter allows a retreat into my upstairs studio and has given me a chance to work on colored pencil portraits. They seem to be getting more and more detailed, as this one of a woman whose illustrations I have admired for ages, shows. I was almost equally challenged by her soulful face and by all those tiny highlights in her "big furry hat." Sorry, I've been watching Stephen Colbert.
Anyway, what I have discovered in diving into these nearly monochromatic drawings, is that I love the process of developing the image, deepening the dark values, adding the lights that add to an illusion of depth. I feel as if I know the person, though I have never met her in real life.
All these drawings are in a bound sketchbook. Sometimes I put an old mat over the image to see what it might look like framed, but basically I just keep them to look at, trying in each one to develop the process more fully each time.
Why I am staying inside.
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