I really enjoy working with charcoal. Probably because I feel comfortable, have a level of practice and hours into working with charcoal.

And I’d like to feel the same about paint. And don’t even get me started on watercolor! That is hard!

I had a gorgeous ruffle-y pink peony from my yard. Was excited try to paint. Less excited about results, working from “real life” (the peony).

So I switched. I took a photo of the peony (thinking it was going to start to fade and fall apart). Switched from color to b&w and got the charcoal out.

So then, today at art school, we got to talking about the difference working between real vs photo, and the result was to set me up with a photo of me (he took this a.m.) and I worked in b&w oil paint only. Next step, work from people (in person – not from photos) and see how the portraits change.