Zachary

This is Zachary. He is one of my cousins in Texas. This portrait was done from a photo taken a few years ago. 

18x24 watercolor and pencil. #129

Doreen

This is Doreen. She's an artist friend. I studied oil painting with her a few years ago.

I'm sneaking her in as 2014 is almost over and I promised 5 friends earlier this year that I would give them a piece of art in 2014. At the end of this project I will give them their actual portraits (if they want them) but for now the gift is digital.

5x9 watercolor and pencil. #128

LeeAnne

This is LeeAnne. She's a sister of my first real girlfriend. She lives in Austin now and goes by the name of LeeAnne (her real name) but I will always know her as Bobbie.

12x16 pencil and watercolor. #127

Lily

This is Lily.She is cool and quirky and has a dog named Shadow. She's a photographer.

8x10 watercolor, pencil and Artrage. #126

Marc

This is Marc. He is an urban sketching friend and he lives in Montreal. A couple of years ago, Alex and I went to an Urban Sketching symposium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and took a class he was teaching called "Tea, Milk, and Honey". It is a great way to think about making a watercolor painting. First you start with a light wash that has the consistency of tea - lots of water and a little bit of color. Then you paint in your main shapes with more color and less water - about the consistency of milk. Then you add in the final touches and highlights with even less water and more color with a mixture that is thicker - kind of like honey. Assuming you have a good drawing, this technique works really well!

He recently published book chock full of lots of great sketching ideas called "The Urban Sketcher: Techniques for Seeing and Drawing on Location". It has 4.5 stars on Amazon.

12"x16" pencil and watercolor. #125

Orling

This is Orling's niece. Orling is an urban sketching friend living in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This sketch is from a photo of her niece. The quote is one of Orling's favorites.

11"x13" pencil and Artrage.

Lisa

This is Lisa. Once upon a time we worked together in the same architectural design studio. She always came up with spectacular interior designs. She's also an artist and a very lovely person.

8"x10.5" watercolor and pencil. #124

Kari Kate

This is Kari Kate. She's my cousin and lives in Texas. 

This portrait really surprised me. I think I need to go to therapy and figure out why I do these things. When I was a kid I would doodle. I had a black pen and a whole bunch of Mr. Sketch scented markers. I loved those markers. I would color with pink just to smell the watermelon. Doing this portrait reminded me of those days when I would get lost in my imagination and just keep building on the thing I had done before.

I think this portrait would look good on a label for a bottle of hard lemonade. I would call it "Sassy Girl".

8"x10.5" Pen, ink, and watercolor. #123

Bonnie

This is Bonnie. I totally missed getting her likeness but this sketch does capture a bit of her adventurous spirit. 

We met on a group tour to Thailand a few years ago. My favorite memory of her was getting a Thai Massage and facial with her somewhere way off the beaten path in the jungles near Chang Mai. We have this great picture her husband took of us with green goop on our faces grinning from ear to ear.

17"x10" watercolor pencil and ink in my grand portrait sketchbook.

Jeff

This is Jeff. We grew up together in Houston and we were roommates in college. He and his sister are the friends I have known the longest in my life.

Painting him was a real trip down memory lane for me. We weren't just friends growing up - we were more like brothers. So there are a lot of memories and connections with him.