Friday, April 25, 2014

Portrait Society Conference


I arrived at the Portrait Society of America annual conference in Washington, DC last evening as the Face-off began. 

The Face-off is a competition between 15 artists who paint five models in groups of three as attendees watch. Here's Tony Pro, one of the contestants. The winner will be determined by popular vote.

One of the reasons the convention organizers invited me back was to sketch from the sidelines like a courtroom reporter. I'm using the little Schmincke watercolor kit, some gouache, and watercolor pencils in a watercolor notebook.

Instructors this year include: Sam Adoquei, Juliette Aristides, Ryan Brown, Scott Burdick, Wende Caporale, Ellen Cooper, Virgil Elliott, Rose Frantzen, Max Ginsburg, Daniel Greene, James Gurney, Jeffrey Hein, Quang Ho, Edward Jonas, David Kassan, Everett Raymond Kinstler, Robert Liberace, Susan Lyon, Michael Shane Neal, Paul Newton, Alicia Ponzio, Tony Pro, Mardie Rees, Anthony Ryder, Rhoda Sherbell, Burton Silverman, Daniel Sprick, Sharon Sprung, Alexey Steele, Jennifer Welty, Dawn Whitelaw, and Mary Whyte.

Portrait Society of America Website

2 comments:

Mordy said...

Hi James,

I read your blog every day thanks for the excellent and informative posts.

For your portrait sketches, I was wondering why you use watercolor pencils over regular color pencils?

Thanks.

James Gurney said...

Thanks, Mordy,
I like watercolor pencils because they can be dissolved by water at any stage of the process and blend in better with the watercolor.