Sometimes when my students are getting to the more challenging parts, i send an encouraging email with examples of my work. i am doing this portrait as an example in class but my time advising takes away from the time to demonstrate. today i did a full layer with a couple of photos to send off to help them as they work. i will post it here as well for others who are studying this method.

Here is my great grandson as i demonstrate for the portrait class. i missed getting a shot of the skin application. after we find all the brights and paint them into the portrait, we let it dry completely and then apply a halfpaste mixture of titanium white with equal amount of gel. once we buff this down well, remembering to wipe our brush as it picks up excess paint, then the image shows through. the students are all very occupied and intent on learning. they are in such good spirits and often even giddy with delight because they seem so surprised that they are getting good results.

i will take a second to appologize for the errors in the script. A few weeks ago, changes were made, as happens frequently, so that now my typing is not responding in the same way it used to. i get no automatic capitol letters at the beginning of sentences and even my typing does not show up on screen for a delayed period of time. this is a bother to me but i dont have time to get excited about it. i even dont have apostrophies! what is the world coming to. well, im going back to painting. there is enough to keep me busy with this! today, Bruce and i stretched a linen canvas for a commissioned portrait. then, when i was painting the imprimatura layer, i see this flaw in the linen right down through where the face will be. i cannot paint a perfect portrait on flawed linen so i must remove the canvas and do it all again tomorrow, i will be sure to check it before cutting and stretching. i ahve never had this problem before so have never experienced this. i did examine the linen but the flaw did not show untill paint was applied. so that was my day. i will see what tomorrow brings. shalom, Diana

Our class worked hard today. Each student listened intently and asked a lot of good questions. everyone was cheerful in dealing with challenges. Each one is doing so very well so no one should feel discouraged and i dont think they are. it is a process and they surely want to see ten steps down the line but i am trying to teach them to visualize and see what the portrait is going to look like so they can get it to that point but, not in an instant. ok, im exhausted. till Sunday, Diana

So, the portrait painting class i began teaching today has eight students. each is working on an image they brought. i decided this would be a good time to start my great grandsons portraits. i began with the youngest.

Each of the students want seriously to learn how to paint the portrait of someone they love. The time goes by so quickly and it is very rewarding for me to see their faces and hear their comments. I am blessed to have this opportunity to pass on what i have learned.