100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Edward, 9/100 © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Those glasses caused me a lot of grief, Ed. Could not pin down that green color. Ended up with a mixture of veridian, white, cad yellow pale and cobalt. Sheesh. The rest of the portrait was a breeze.

Please remember that tomorrow will be the 10th portrait of the first group of ten. Be sure to vote for your favorite - yes, you can vote for yourself - at least every painting should have ONE vote. LOL

For purchase information, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

Someone inquired about my Zazzle merchandise. I would like to remind everyone that you may also get your portrait printed on a mug, shirt, totebag, etc. Email me if you're interested in this.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Suzanne, 8/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 8
I didn't go too wild with the colors on this portrait unless you call the purple hair wild. You would think that painting down cast eyes, such as this lady's, would not be a problem, but I had a terrible time with her right eye. Had to paint it and wipe it off about 3 times.

It seems like every portrait has it's own set of problem areas. On the bright side, by the time I've done a hundred of these, there probably won't be anything I haven't encountered.

Some people have inquired about my painting process, so today I'll discuss the supports I'm using for this project. I go to Home Depot and buy a 2 x 4 foot piece 1/4 inch thick MDF (medium density fiberboard). Then I have the HD folks cut it into 6 inch strips. When I get home I cut the strips into 6 inch sections on my table saw. The MDF board is a very smooth surface, which is essential for such detailed work.

Each 6x6 inch panel is then filed on the edges and gessoed. I'm using white gesso now, but think I will try black gesso in a future group. I may even do some in acrylic with collage materials. We'll see.

For purchase information, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Carolyn, 7/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 7
Hey, Carolyn, I didn't say anything about HANDS, but I should have. ; - ) Hands are a pain to paint. It is so easy to have them end up looking unnatural. On the other hand (so to speak) I DID enjoy doing the rest of your portrait. I've discovered I like to paint people wearing glasses. Don't know why, I just do.
For purchase information, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

We are getting close to the end of the first group of ten portraits. I would like all of my viewers to look again at portraits 1-10, pick their favorite, and email me their choice. I will publish the votes, and at the end of the whole project, I will reprint the top picks from each group of 10 to vote for the Grand Poobah winner.

Your choice can be based on any criteria you wish - excellent likeness, wild colors, painterly approach, expression, whatever. I think this will be fun.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Chloe, 6/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 6
This little girl was irresistible with her smile (minus the front two teeth) and the fabulous back lit pale blond hair. This is another good example of how important good lighting is for making an interesting photo/painting.
I'm sure Chloe had a recent visit from the Tooth Fairy. When my kids were little, the going rate from the Tooth Fairy was 25 cents/tooth or something like that. I suppose that's up to over $1/tooth by now.
For purchase information on this painting, please see my website, or email me at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - David, 5/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 5
This is David looking rather tired and disheveled the morning after "a jazz quartet kept playing in my pillow." Many of you will recognize this fine artist as David Darrow, aka Dave the Painting Guy. His wit is as sharp as his skill at the easel.
I had fun with this painting keeping the palette muted to match his mood. For purchase information, please see my website.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Edgar, 4/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 4
Fauvism was an art movement in the early 1900's made popular by Matisse and other artists of that time period. Art critics in Paris were aghast at the outrageous colors used in these paintings. Matisse's portrait of his wife, Madame Matisse, is also known as the green line.
My subject here, Edgar, said he would like a portrait done in Fauvist style, so I modeled the color scheme after Matisse's portrait of his wife.
As you can see, about the only thing that really represents Edgar are his blue eyes, yet it does look like him, green nose and all.
For purchase information, please see my website.

A word about your photos

I am thrilled with all your positive responses to my portrait project. I appreciate every photo that
is sent in and I'm grateful that you want to participate.

Let me clarify a little about lighting on the photos you are sending me. Many are flash photos looking directly into the camera. This creates a flat image that is more difficult for me to interpret in paint.

Take a good look at the above photos. They are some excellent examples of what I'm looking for in a photo in terms of lighting. If you don't have a photo with this kind of lighting, send it in anyhow, and I'll see if I can manipulate it with photo software. Sometimes I can increase the contrast and decrease the brightness to get a better image.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS-Ishrath, 3/100 © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 3. This is one of three fabulous photos sent to me by Ishrath in India. Ishrath writes a blog/website called www.wanderingmist.com which I find very interesting and insightful.
Look at this photo - how could it not turn out to be a good portrait? Ishrath photographed this lady in the Jaipur area of India.
For purchase information, please see my website.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Lauren, 2/100 © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Day 2. This is my beautiful daughter, Lauren. This picture was taken on a boat in Sydney harbor when Lauren and her husband, Drouin, lived in Australia. They recently moved back to Denver and I'm so glad.

The fun thing about this portrait was doing the sunglasses with the reflections on them.

Remember, if you've already sent me a photo of yourself, and you want to have me publish the link to your blog or website when I post your portrait, to send the address to me.

100 PORTRAITS IN 100 DAYS - Suzanne, 1/100, © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Hello everyone. A new year, a new beginning. Today, as I launch my portrait project, I start with a subject I know very well. The curve of her smile, the twinkle of her eye - it's my daughter, Suzanne.

I am very excited about this project and hope my viewers will enjoy seeing a new face every day for the next three months or so. I have received many interesting, PAINTABLE photos for the project, but I still need more.

Please review the photo requirements, and send them in! In the next several days, along with the person of the day, I will explain, in detail, the process I go through to create these paintings. If you have already sent me a photo, please email me if you wish to have a link to your blog/website posted along with your image.

I cannot tell you when your painting will be posted because I have my husband randomly pick a photo for me to paint every day (that's the extent of his contribution - LOL).

If you haven't sent me a photo, why not? You have nothing to lose.
The sidebar on the right has a place where you can sign up for an automatic feed of this blog in your daily email. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Carol