Guest Blog - Artist Robin Roberts

A note from Dot:
Robin Roberts was so kind to send this to me... and I want to share it with you...


Dot Courson's Guest Blogger.... 
Robin Roberts....


Scary vs Fun...

It went something like this:   one of my ardent painting students requested a class about faces and suggested we use a photo of a pretty lady she noticed in a blog.   It just happened to be my friend Dot Courson of Pontotoc Ms.   The student liked the smiling face and the straw hat.  So I requested a printable photo from Dot that she graciously supplied.   The students who attended are the brave ones willing to learn and tolerate boo boos.   I told them this would NOT be the portrait in a curly gold frame.   The class was intended to let them experiment and play with a face and not worry about having a finished "portrait" .
You can see the reference photo of Dot that we used in the top photo . 
We talked about the axis tilt of the head, and some basic proportions of the head.  I didn't use formulas for face colors, letting them play with their own mixtures.   The compositons were similar, but you can see interesting differences in how they put it all together.   One was finished, and the others show how far they got in about 2 hours.    None were experienced in faces or portraits other than family photos .    So hats off to the brave students.    I think they had fun.






 

MY DEMO IN STAGES:   looking strange at this stage

Dot minus real eyeballs.  I'm painting fast as a sketch at this stage, and as usual, the students out run me.  We talk about the color of hair and try some experiments noting the color is not what we would think.  

this is close to how I left it.  I'm going to cheat and say I caught a few aspects of Dot's face after this photo.   But the point was to have fun, stay loose and learn something.    And we did.

Now for the even funnier part of Dots painting class and painting friends:

Oil painter Robin Roberts has lived in 5 states, but north Alabama roots keep her grounded. Inspired by ordinary views by the side of the road, Robin seeks nobility in the everyday scenes we encounter. .Originally from north Alabama, Robin’s family lived in Iowa twice, Texas twice, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. That southern orientation emerges in the oil paintings. Now Alabama again presents wonders begging to be brought to life.

Robin’s collectors find her art at: Dragonfly Gallery in Fayetteville Tn; ARTifacts Gallery in Florence Al; Renaissance Gallery in Northport Al; Kathleen’s Fine Art in Decatur Al, Ashland Gallery in Mobile Al, and Charleston House Gallery in Montgomery Al or www.RobinRobertsArt.com