6/100 Portraits

Portrait No 3/100

Portrait no 4/100

I was second guessing myself again, thinking perhaps I have made a hasty decision about wanting to do 100 portraits. However,  I have laid the inner critic to rest. So far, I did manage to do a portrait a day! I suppose keeping the sizes generally small did help, and also watercolour wash and pen is a quick method. I am still laying the watercolour down first very loosely before using the pen. I switched to using watercolour paper for No 4 and also used a different pen with not very satisfactory results. The nib was too thick and the ink ran, so much so that one of the eyes was ruined and I had to use a white highlighter to restore it. My approach for this series is that I am learning as I go along, so I just try to make things work instead of fussing over mistakes and imperfections.

I decided to vary my approach for portraits no 5 and 6. I no longer laid a watercolour wash first but painted the entire subject with watercolour and then added the ink outline on completion using a fine 0.2 pen. I will keep varying the approach and medium as I proceed. After all, this is also a journey of exploration and experimentation as much as practice. I am especially pleased with No 5, where I managed to capture a good likeness of both the subjects who are my friends.

Portrait No 5/100

Portrait no 6/100