Monday, September 7, 2009

Grandma and Dominoes

When my husband's grandma saw that I sketched, she asked me to do her portrait, like one of her friends had had done. She (grandma, not her friend) had just broken her hand several days before and wasn't able to fix her hair, so she just told me to put it into a bun. This didn't quite capture her, so I'll use it as a practice run for the watercolor and I'll try it again. She's 88 years old and looks fabulous for her age!






This was the family, sitting around the kitchen table playing dominoes this afternoon. They were a little bent out of shape because I didn't want to play, but how could I when I had this perfect opportunity to sketch?? I started off too large and then tried to squeeze everyone in. So, no, they were actually able to see each others dominoes! I probably wouldn't have survived anyway; this is a very competitive group! It was difficult to capture much of a likeness (not much there) because they moved, but so subtly that it was difficult to notice.

10 comments:

  1. I don't know about the likeness but both sketches are full of expression!

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  2. Beautiful sketches Raena, and Grandma's solo soon-to-be water colored portrait looks amazing! I love all the lines laid, and the expression is nice and calm. Can't wait for the finished product, and you're absolutely right about her looking fabulous at her age ^^

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  3. These are great portraits - I too am waiting to see the wc version

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  4. Great job! You're especially brave to tackle five people at once!

    possumpatty.blogspot.com

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  5. Wow - this is great! Magnificent people drawings, and I also would have been a bit intimidated to draw 5 of them! All the different angles too. -- I had to laugh about the dominoes. We (the getting-older younger generation) have a new year's tradition of playing dominoes. My father-in-law (from Cuba) absolutely refuses to watch because we don't know what we are doing! (Half of us are gringos anyway.) :)

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  6. I really like your drawings - these are so expressive!

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  7. Fantastic sketches, Raena. I really like the image of your husband's grandmother.

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  8. Raena
    Wow is right. Your brave choice to do a composition of the 5 dominoes players is as impressive a personal challenge as the result is successful. Congratulations on that! I like your idea of taking a photo of the pencil before working in watercolor too. Nice idea. Looking forward to your painted version

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  9. Boy, I'll say "brave", indeed - drawing all those people with them knowing you're doing it and (I'm sure) wanting to see the results. Very well done! Bravo!! nancy

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  10. These are great-recording of daily life, etc. I'm not much on playing games, either. I would rather draw them!

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