I just purchased a slide scanner that works with my computer. [George, thanks for the use of yours. I have to get it back to you.]

I’ve been viewing film slides that I haven’t seen in decades. One of the more interesting ones is a group portrait of my brother Dave, our dog Chuckie and me, circa 1966.

Today’s watercolor experiment:

Even though I am way out of my comfort zone when I paint portraits, I decided to give it a try today. Here is the Kodachrome that I used as my reference:

Jack, Dave and Chuckie on Bike

Process:

I drew a light sketch of the figures and began painting patches of flesh tones (using my formula of yellow ochre, cadmium red light and titanium white, in different proportions).

My aim was to suggest facial features. I have found that the more detail I attempt to incorporate, the less successful the results.

Here is my experiment for the today:

J+D and Chuckie
16″x12″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

 Comment:

What can I say?  There is not even a passing resemblance to my reference photograph except that each depicts two human figures and a dog. As I mentioned, I am very uncomfortable painting specific human faces.  I will have to make a concerted effort if I am to improve in this area.