Portraiture

Here are some examples of portraits I did overtime.
I work from reference photos, and I can do custom portraits for special events such as weddings or graduations and so on.
I usually use only transparent watercolors for portraiture, especially Schmincke, because the skin texture to me requires as much transparency as possible-
I always work in layers, many transparent layers, in order to achieve the depth of color I need in a painting.

"Baby has been crying" Watercolor on Fabriano paper, 300 grs,
dimensions 6.6 x 7.8 in / 15.2 x 17.8 cm

My goal here was to depict the transparency  of babies skin. He still has some wetness in his eyes, but I'm sure mommy brought a smile on his face soon! :)

"Candle in the wind" Watercolor on Fabriano paper, 300 grs, dimensions 9.8 x 7.2 in / 22.8 x 17.6 cm


I could not resist the charm of this timeless myth, in her young years, had lots of fun in doing the make-up in here, and hair were also a challenge!

"The afghan girl" Watercolor I did a while back on an unknown paper that a friend had gitfted me.
dimensions 9.8 x 11.4 in / 25 x 29 cm


Unfortunately my paper has some "spots" (color doesn't stick) where the chin is; the color came out blotty (a pity, as it took nearly 10 days work to complete...)

"A wedding study" on half a sheet of Arches 300 grs


In this study I wanted to experiment with the transparency of the tulle veil

"The Cuban" Watercolor on Arches paper, 300 grs,
dimensions 11.8 x 15.7 in / 30 x 40 cm

My challenge here was to paint the beard and the wrinkles on this skinny old man's face, as well as playing with shadows and light to give the impression of a hot summer day

"Melancholy" Watercolor on Fabriano paper, 300 grs,
dimensions 16 x 11.5 in / 40.6 x 29.2 cm

I absolutely loved tha late afternoon light coming in from the window, and her dreamy expression! Really adored painting this portrait!



Here is one I did of my friend Anne-Marie, blogger at Soap Queen and Owner of  Brambleberry.
She published an artcle thay you may read here This is good, as my external hd, where I stored ALL AND EVERY project broke, and at the moment I don't have any spare money to put into this......

Painter's tools

I'd like to show you my favorite brushes, the ones I use the most:

These are Da Vinci brushes,  they are all (except the green one) part of a Susan Harrison Tustain signature set: the big flat one,Nova 2 inch (50mm) synthetic wash brush Series 5080 Size 50, is used only to wet the paper, the brown ones are Maestro kolinsky sable Series 11 Sizes 6 & 2,and Nova Synthetic Series 122  Sizes 4 & 2 used as "scrubbies" the mop is Artissimo quill siberian sable Series 44  Size 3, a very versatile brush that I use quite often, it's soft and holds lots of water.

I got these chinese brushes at Cheap Joe's. They are made of goat's hair and use them a lot. the round ones are very nice, as you may flat them out and get interesting textures.

These squirrel mops are Alvaro Castagnet's signature brushes, excellent material, the one I use the least is the biggest one as to me it's "too powerful".

These syntethic brushes come from Escoda and are a Jpseph Zbukvic signature set. They are excellent and I use them very very often.This is quite a relief, as when I bought the real animal's fur ones I felt so guilty knowing that their lives were taken away in order to make the brushes... :( 

Now on to my watercolors: 

I mainly use Winsor and Newton and Schmincke, then Holbein, Rembrandt and Daler Rowney. And my all time fav color is Quinacridone gold from W&N. I put it everywhere to give the glow I need. Couldn't live without it!!!!

And now to my studio:

I had lots of art stuff to store, and my house is not that big. so I had this idea during one of my frequent visits to the Ikea store...I saw this kitchen island, with lots of drawers and space where to keep all my stuff, and also a big surface where I can paint. I thought this was perfect so I bought it. Worth every buck I spent!!!!

Introducing myself

I live, and always did, in Como, on beautiful Lake Como. I had a chance to buy a home some years ago in a very sunny position and that overlooks the bay.

It was love at first sight and, as often happens in my life, this chance came quite unexpectedly.
I have a wonderful and inspiring view

The house vas built in 1901 and was in very poor conditions, so it took me lots of efforts and money and elbow grease to get it where I wanted to, a cozy little nest, a place that literally embraces me and makes me feel at home!

The roof of my home is my terrace, it still needs working but hey, Rome was not built in a day!!!! :)

I spend lots of time here during spring and summertime, I love to plant veggies, I have lots of herbs like rosemary, sage and so on, love picking the fresh veggies, it's lots of fun!

Here I am....

Hi all, I've been thinking a lot about starting a blog, so here I am! I'm going to show you my artwork, but also talk about my craftsy projects. I'm a very creative mind, so we'll see what happens.......