My Quirky Characters

And back to some more paintings we worked on at Tracy Verdugo‘s art retreat in Italy! Another fun and interesting project was creating some “quirky characters” as a little practice of portraits. On a large piece of paper, or in my case, a two-page spread on my sketchbook, we begin by painting a few heads and necks giving enough space between each to add the rest.

We then introduce all the features, clothing and accessories using whatever mediums and collage papers we have at hand. After Tracy showed us her demo, we were on our own. Never done this before, and it was a bit daunting at first though exciting. What faces to make? What will my characters wear? Surprisingly I was somehow just able to make it all up as I went along, continuing one by one. The best part was figuring out head accessories and outfits which was so much fun. So intrigued that I was rather amazed how my creative juices kept flowing!

However, we started running out of time as our schedules were not only packed solid with the lessons but also with the excursions and meals planned by the organizer. I was, in fact, planning to head to the studio after that evening we all went out for the pizza dinner and continue. Tracy was astounded. “But I’m not finished, I need to continue painting them for tomorrow’s exhibition!”, I protested. Turns out nothing needed to be completed. Just display what you have already and finish the rest when you get home. What a relief that was! And so I did leave it and enjoyed the rest of the evening with my new friends. No stress! And here is my first half:

I was glad to be able to complete the assignment once I returned home to the Netherlands. Not only could I take my time and continue at my leisure, but also have the comfort of my own home with my own art supplies, especially the ones I didn’t bring with me. This included gel pens, 3D liners, glitter glue as well as other paints. Just love how it turned out! So far here we have, clockwise from the top left: Little One in poncho and hat Peruvian style, then dressed all hippy in braids, then another hippy chic one in a mouse hat featuring Miffy, and finally as a Punk! Characters that never crossed my mind till now. And soon, I will share with you the other half of my assignment so watch this space!