I really tried to focus on two things with this portrait, getting the drawing right and keeping the gouache colors light (gouache dries darker). For once I managed to keep a tilted head tilted in my drawing–for some reason my brain always wants to make everything upright and symmetrical. It doesn’t surprise me since I learned that the image that comes in from our eyes is upside down and it’s our brains that convert it to right-side up. My brain definitely has a mind of its own…oh wait a minute–it is my mind!
Below is the original pencil drawing over which I painted the gouache. I wish I could show you the photo I worked from, but I think those are only meant to be visible to members of Julia Kay’s Portrait Party, which you can apply to join on Flickr and play too, if you want to.
Jana Bouc, Artist 
7 replies on “Portrait of Richard for Julia Kay’s Portrait Party”
The gouache really added some life to Richard. The eyes convey the smile much better in the final piece. Really loving how the blocks of color come together as well.
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Thank you so much for your thoughtful and meaningful comments that touched on just what I was trying to accomplish!
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This is wonderful!!! What a great smile! It takes over his whole face!!
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Thanks Carol! That’s a great observation and description of him.
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Beautiful portrait Jana – you captured his spirit, with sparkling eyes and easy manner.
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Jana, I’ll bet this gentleman is very pleased with your wonderful rendition of him. Your pencil drawing is fabulous. Adding color brings allows his personality to shine. Is this painted on a board or a canvas? I may join JKPP. It might reinforce my budding interest in painting portraits!
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It’s in my jumbo (A4 I think) watercolor moleskine notebook. Jkpp is a lot of fun — very enthusiastic and supportive members. They use Flickr as the main platform which is kind of a pain (I hate Flickr) but otherwise really super and the organizer, Julia is great. Definitely a great way to increase portrait learning opportunities!
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