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.