7 minutes to go....

I always enjoy painting in black and white. I did this one in 7 minutes...I was killing time till,"Lost" came on!

Joan Chen?

I am always grabbing pictures I like out of magazines. I think that this was actress Joan Chen. I'm not usually trying for a likeness, it's usually something else that I'm after, in this case it was the translucent leaf shaped detail of her dress. It's surprising even to me, that sometimes an effect like that can be achieved with just a few brushstrokes.

Hairpins

Most of my sketchbook paintings are about 3-4 inches wide, this one is slightly bigger and I spent a little more time on it...I loved the way the hair was weaving in and out of the hair pins.

Brushy and brown

Using fewer colors is an easy way to achieve color harmony in a painting. This one was done with a really limited palette, so it's more of an exercise in simple brush work and values, but the color works too!

Mr. Hat

Painting girls is the most fun, but who can resist painting a big hat?

Hair cut

Every subject has something that draws you in, in this case it was the cool wedge shaped hair cut.

Happy profile!

I know that a lot of artists tend to steer clear of painting profiles, but I really like them. Lots of good shapes and every one is different.

Sketch painting?

What the heck is "sketch painting"??? Well, in my case it refers to small, quick, loose paintings that I do in my sketchbook, usually in less than an hour. I'm a full time freelance artist and sometimes after drawing all day for work, I just want to,"push some paint around" as a teacher once called it. I purposely use acrylic paint, a limited palette and a big bristle brush so I can't get hung up on the details!