Hello from Chicago and Santa Fe!
 

Hello!

I am an artist and perpetual student living near Chicago, but about to leave for Santa Fe in January.

I have been painting people for about 8 years since I declared my art major in my first year of college. After I graduated, I continued to paint and draw the figure, finding fresh inspiration from the work and teaching of Anthony Ryder. I have exhibited in galleries in my area, and have done some portrait commissions.

This summer I spent three months at the Andreeva Portrait Academy in Santa Fe, New Mexico studying portrait painting with Tony Ryder. I had the chance to stay an extra month to take some classes with Geoffrey Laurence and Kevin Gorges. In January I plan to return to Santa Fe to continue studying at Andreeva.

Below I've attached a life study from the portrait class I took this summer. The face below the eyebrows is finished; the rest is a color underpainting. There is a close-up at my website www.annawakitsch.com

I look forward to getting involved in this forum and learning from you all!

What a powerful and beautifully painted head! Awesome, Anna. Welcome to the Forum, and I hope you will post often. :)

Thank you Linda! I was just admiring the beautiful paintings on your website earlier today.

Hi Anna, and welcome!

I'm really impressed with your portrait head, and I like the way you finished part and left the unfinished quality in the rest of it. Maybe it was due to a time limitation--but it works very well. I also enjoyed looking at your website. I hope you will post a lot of your work.

Alex

Welcome to the forum Anna,
Beautiful work. I am very excited to see more of it.
Allan

*Gasp!* Your work is gorgeous! I can't wait to learn from you.

Welcome to the forum. ;)

Please let me amplify the "gasp" factor! We are so thrilled to have you here!

Welcome.

Alex, Allan, Lacey and Chris, thank you so much for the kind welcome! I'm enjoying browsing through the different topics here while I'm working up the courage to ask for a critique for a commission I have been working on.

Welcome Anna!
That's some powerful painting-- Thanks for sharing it!
Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Hi Anna and Welcome,
I visited your website and I liked your works very much. It seems to me you have enjoyed Tony's classes a lot.

Anna,

That is a wonderful head. Isn't Tony a great guy? I'm sure he is very proud of you. You have a great future.

I show in Santa Fe with Nedra Matteucci on Paseo de Peralta. When you're there in January, stop in and say hello to them and poke around. They often have some great old stuff stashed in corners. Last time I was there, Nedra had a couple of wonderful Nicholai Fechin drawings in her office.

Bill

Terri, Bonfim and Bill: Thank you for the welcome. Yes, Tony is great and I enjoyed his classes a lot!

Bill, I will definitely check out your gallery in Santa Fe. It would be inspiring to see your work in person!

Anna

Dear Anna,

Welcome and congratulations on your scholarship and studies! I can see you are really flourishing! Your "Esodie" and "Charlotte" are hauntingly unforgettable portrait images, among others; the former being rock-solid and powerful in it's painting technique and vision. Her color just sings!

I feel you are among our real assets and look forward to your contributions and participation here.

Best wishes for your continued success,

Garth

Garth,

thank you!

I have really enjoyed your paintings that I've come across in my exploration of the forum. I admire your work very much!

Anna

Exquisite solid work.

You will be an inspiration to us all. Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Wow! your work is stunning. I hope to learn LOTS from you! Welcome.

Sharon and Mary, thank you so much!

I'm going to post something soon on the Works in Progress thread, but I want to make a little more progress on it first.