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This is the final piece I gave to my Grandma last Sunday. You can see where my Mom got her habit of blinking whenever a photo is taken. I thought it would be harder to get my Grandpa’s likeness right, but my Grandma’s likeness was trickier. Would have liked more depth in it, but darker shadows wouldn’t look very nice. Ah well, I’m happy that she liked it. Shall pick up more painting technique when I have the time, this week has been spent troubleshooting my rather temperamental computer..

I’ve been working on this watercolour piece for my Grandma’s birthday when I can. I’ve been meaning to paint this for a long time, the original photograph has faded beyond the abilities of photoshop to save it.

Doing portraits of someone I know and love feels pretty different from others. The experiences I’ve had with them, memories of being young and taken care of – it transcends the technical concerns. More difficult in striving for a likeness, yet easier in simple ways..

I took another 2 hours to finish this up.. Despite the slow progress I really enjoyed painting this. I forsee my $1 portable watercolour kit will become more and more valuable as time goes by.

Working on watercolour paper is great too, the paper is thick enough to withstand multiple layers of colour without warping or getting all furry like normal sketchbook paper.

Hellboy was a good choice to ease into using watercolours again, monochromatic as he is.. Next subject will be a colour portrait.. Time to up the ante..

What a packed but fruitful week it’s been. On top of revisiting my piano & violin studies, I’ve been setting up stuff for my two younger brothers, gymnastics class for one and piano for the other. Started this sketch of Hellboy on an A5 sized pad of watercolour paper during the older one’s gymnastics class, referenced from a copy of Empire Magazine that was lying around. Took about 40 minutes to get this far – yeap, real slow.. Going to forge ahead and finish it up in.. another hour. I’m being way too careful, time to loosen up and paint more!

Things are getting exciting for me, lots of activities lined up in the coming weeks. Fly By Night Video Challenge 2008 is on from tomorrow till Sunday. It’s gonna be insanity once again just like the 48HR Film Festival, but the best kind of insanity of course. I’ll also get the chance to put the 3dsmax 2009 trial through its paces. Gonna make the most out of those 30 days.

December will start off with the first OIC Portrait Day I’ll be free to attend in 2 months, Forest Adventure, hopefully A Job, more secret ninja training sessions, numerous gatherings with family & friends and to top it off, Christmas! Followed by New Year resolutions and subsequently gaining lots of weight from Chinese New Year foood… but.. I think I’m getting ahead of myself here.. I’ll be enjoying this December that’s for sure..