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Well she has been sitting on my board now for a couple of days and I think I am going to call her finished.  I guess you can pick on them forever making a tweak here or there.  Have gotten the frame and mat ordered (here is the preview) and will put her together and deliver her at the end of the month. I got such a lovely note back from the photographer of my reference photo, Barb Tester from PMP, and I feel good about the picture and the project and hope that she will move some hearts and open some wallets for this worthwhile chariety.  This certainly has been a pleasure to work on and I am liking this technique and am going to try several more portraits in this combination. Now however I am working on some smaller pictures in yet again a different technique, oil pastel, just to try to get a feel for it.  Boy this stuff is like working with butter, it just literally glides on.  This bears no resemblence to dry pastels that I usually work in....

Well this hat is turning out to be a pain. but good thing is there is no definite pattern.  It just takes many layers and I still will have to go over it really good with the graphite to tone it down.  But I feel like I am getting closer to the finish line and I am ready.  Already have seen something that "speaks to me" so it will be my next project.  It is helping to stay busy and let my mind dwell on other things. I always see things that I want to correct and I don't like that glob of shadow in the lower cheek area,  I don't see it in real life.  For the final post I will try to do a scan and see if that gives me a better texture between the graphite and the color pencil. After I get done with the tedious hat (I really liked it when I first saw it) I am going to just give the faintest indication of the sweater. Hoping to get this down to the Art Center next week, but still have to get the mat and frame it.  I am not a huge fan of framing - ugh...

    Well I am pretty sure I must have a fever because I have actually been organizing and throwing away clutter and decided to go back on a "food watch" aka diet, all on the same day!!!  It is amazing but I can actually see the back wall of my closet and finding things I forgot I had.  Just like Christmas. Anyway I have gone two days now without any significant progress on this picture, worked over the face quite a bit and added more color, the transitions in real life are more delicate from the graphite to the color pencil.  Also have mapped out the hat texture and am going to really have to play up the shadow side graying down the greens as I don't want the green hat to overpower her face.  To be honest I think one of the reasons I have slowed down is I am now to the part of the image that I have made up.  I need to find myself some reference pics of shadowing.  Best get myself in gear though as I will need to get this turned in rel...

For better or worse I think I am on the path to go ahead and finish her in the original thought that I had.  I will have one additional opportunity, when I go to take the painting in to get someone else's opinion on whether or not this is going to be acceptable.  I do like however, this pose as I think it really suggests innocence, the burden of illness, but the desire to fight and win, so overall I think it is hopeful and it should pull someone's heart strings.    She seems to be pretty much coming out of the paper on her own without a lot of help from me and in my experience that means stand back and get out of the way. Still looking for your thoughts as I really don't want to offend any one with this. Also just wanted to give an update on the weaving that I am doing.  This is my tv project when I don't want to be doing anything else and watching the tv is BORING.    It is a composite of photos from the Blueridge Parkway, one of my ...