Bonjour ya'all
 

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this Forum and I wanted to introduce myself. I'm a 30 year-old French Canadian living in Texas (hence the "Bonjour ya'all"!).

I have been drawing and painting for the last two years, with no formal training. I just love painting! After dabbling in various media and various types of subjects, I've come to the conclusion that I just love painting people and animals, both in oil and in pastel.

I love learning, and I am sure that I will learn a lot in this Forum. I'm at the point where I really want to start commission works, but I'm still somewhat afraid to dive in, since I do not have much experience or that many pieces.

When I am not painting, I teach French to adults and I also teach basic art to teenagers at a children's studio that my friend owns.

I'm so glad to have found this Forum and am looking forward to learning from all of you!

Bonjour
 

Boujour et bienvenue!

Looking forward to seeing your stuff!

Thank you for the welcome Josef!

You can find some of my pieces on my website:

http://www.katto.com

When I get more confident, I will post for a critique. Thanks again!

Nice work, Kathy. I really like the sculptures. Post as soon as you have something new...

Welcome Kathy,

You have a lot work ;). My favorites are Al Pacino and the sculptures. What material do you use for your sculptures? Plastilline?

We have a similar beginning:

Me too! But you have a year's advantage. :sunnysmil

Helpful link for sculptors:

http://users.lanminds.com/~drewid/index.html
(with recipes for self-made Plastilin!)

http://www.borsheimarts.com/lessons.htm

http://www.louisxvimannequins.com/eye_banner.html

Merci
 

Again, thank you Josef!

Leslie, thank you also for your comments! For the sculptures, I use white modeling clay. One of the sculptures (originally white clay) has been molded and is in aqua stone.

A little more
 

Oops, I sent my message without finishing it!

To continue what I was saying...

Leslie, unfortunately, the only sculpture that I have left is the one that has been molded. The other two blew up in the kiln (argh). That was very disappointing!

As much as I like sculpting, I enjoy painting a lot more. I really want to focus on my oil painting. I just hope that I have potential with that medium.

I find it very hard to judge and critique myself. I have friends around me who can tell me that they like my "pretty pictures", but it is not the same as the critique from someone who knows art.

If any of you think that there is potential, please let me know. Don't be afraid to tell me not to quit my day job either! :)

Thank you!

Hello Kathy,

I find absolutely wonderful the delicate interior drawings of yours... the exercises also are very funny!

Thank you Sergio,

I really appreciate your comments. I have seen your work and it is beautiful, I love your portrait of the General.

After reading most posts on this Forum and looking around at all the beautiful and often magnificent pieces, it made me realize that I have *a lot* of work ahead of me if I ever want to be decent portrait painter. I have reconsidered starting to take commissions and instead really focus on learning as much as possible before taking on that task. I know now that it was foolish to think I was ready!

I just want to thank everyone for their insights and all the really helpful posts that are in this Forum.

Proportion
Tonality
Texture

Each point needs to be studied at least a year.