Painted faces

I ordered a 24-pan set of Schmincke watercolors when I got back from France. Albany Wiseman was using Schmincke in Provence and I was so impressed with the quality of these paints. They are deeply pigmented and mostly transparent, which makes them wonderful for glazes, the method Albany was teaching at les Bassacs. The 24-pan set had colors I'd never used and didn't have colors I always use, so I figured I'd be out of my comfort zone. Which is good. I've spent my life jettisoning one comfort zone after another.
I also ordered a couple of Daniel Smith tubes I'd been curious about: cobalt green pale and lunar black.
In the three sketches below, I used mostly my new Schmincke set, with the addition of the two Daniel Smiths above and also Daniel Smith raw sienna in parts of the face of the African mask.
A word about these sketches. I made them, two buddhas and an African mask, at the nearby university art museum. With these I take up again the languished thread of my 101 Faces Project. Yikes I'm behind here, but I do have lots more than I've posted in the gallery of the same name at left. I can tell I'll have to do an All Faces, All the Time week sometime in late December. Other art projects have pushed my faces onto the back burner. Ouch, that hurts! This, too, is life.

Comments

[Sherie]

What wonderfully expressive and colorful pieces. Really great work.

[Laura]

Hi everyone!Thanks so much for your lovely comments---they inspired me to do the comparison sketches I posted today. I'll be so interested in your responses!

[Katherine]

My watercolours are Schminke. They were quite a shock when I got them years ago as they are just so LOADED with pigment. It seems as if that might be the theme of Schminke as I agree the Schminke pastels are also very pigment rich.

I really like them (and the Schminke tin too!) - now all I need to do (as a dedicated dry media person) is get rather better at handling a brush.........

[Donna]

Laura, these are great as always. I am so impressed that you were in a show in France. Congratulations. Schmincke also makes GREAT pastels. They are almost pure pigment, very little binder. They will probably be my next purchase. Currently I use Senniler for my final layer, but want to add some Schmincke as well.

[Casey]

These are wonderful, Laura - the colors are brilliant. Even though your palette has changed, I'd recognize these as yours right away. So what's the verdict on the Schminke watercolors? Is it too early to tell or should I quickly place an order?

[lindsay]

A FEAST of FACES. Your work has an unmistakable stamp, Laura. So glad you are going back to your faces project. I love masks too. A friend of mine has a collection with about 30 pieces. Maybe this would be a good winter project!