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Dianne and Julie, these are wonderful stories. I don't quite know what it is about seeing an outdoor artist at work that makes me so happy, but there is a "bring the art to the people" aspect to it that cheers me up (unless the artists are aggressive hustlers and won't leave you alone). I think that having a succession of different faces, ages, races and gender is good practice for "serious" portrait work for so many reasons. If an artist were to do this during the day and then go home and do some long, carefully observed still life practice - think how fast our draftsmanship could progress. Getting out there also takes some courage because it is hard work, there can be hecklers and you don't always get a 100% success rate.
Dianne, I think your idea about working with costuming is a lot of fun. I watched a "Paint Out" a couple of months ago where a group of artists painted volunteer teenaged girls in antique dresses, leaning on trees and sitting on grass in one of our parks down here. More art groups should consider doing this (I can't remember how the paintings were sold, though). I'm impressed that you were able to get oil commissions from your setup, good for you!
If you don't want to charge but just want some practice drawing faces, by the way, I would consider going to a local nursing home. Old people are very rewarding for so many reasons. It is heartbreaking to be told, as I was more than once by sitters, that nobody has really looked at them at all for twenty or thirty years.
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