Another movie spread and a couple of experiments

 My family loved the movie 'Foul Play' when I was young.  In fact, it was a favorite 'go-to' every time we had a nasty thunderstorm.  In this part of Texas that was frequent.  Not so much these days with the drought though.

I'm not sure why, but showing my experiments always makes me feel more vulnerable.  But here goes anyway!  This is drawn from a photo of my cousin's grandmother.  It was a black and white photo and she had her daughters standing behind her.  I exaggerated some proportions and the color of the dress is completely 'artistic license'.  It is done in charcoal with watercolor and white gouache on a toned background.  I need to add some highlights to her face since forgot to save them when I added the watercolor.   I do like this piece, with the exception of that light blob at the top right that wouldn't take any more color.  I probably was holding it down with an oily thumb or something.  It was done in my 9x12 aquabee sketchbook. 

This was completely unplanned.  I had my desktop easel out and a page I had torn out of my aquabee sketchbook to do some gouache testing on.  I turned it over and had been doodling different things in pencil.  As I shut down my computer for the night, I felt unsatisfied because I hadn't done enough 'real' sketching.  I picked up my pencil, held it at the back end, extended my arm out and drew this imaginary guy right on top of all that doodling, most of which isn't even noticeable here.  You can see that same quote running vertically through the guy on the right side...just barely.  The vertical lines through his cheek were part of one of the doodles.    Then I started adding watercolor as sloppily as I could manage.  On purpose...sloppy.  And I liked it.  His face may seem a little out of perspective, but I can live with that given the technique used.  He does actually have color on his forehead which my scanner didn't pick up...or maybe my computer screen doesn't?

I seem to be at a crossroad, not sure where to go next.  In a way I really crave to be working with oils.  But at the moment it doesn't seem like a good idea to spend a bunch of money on new supplies, especially since I'm currently limited on space.  I liked using the charcoal and gouache with the watercolor and maybe I'll try more of that.  I think what I need is a good exciting subject.  Or maybe an art buddy.  My sister will be staying with us for a while when she returns to the US.  She'd make a perfect model.   I wonder how willing she would be to sit still for me.  Can't wait for her to get here!

Hope you're all doing well and staying creative! 

UPDATE: I haven't been liking my scans lately so I'm trying something different.  The pictures on this post have been replaced with scans that I believe look a little better.