Oops, it's a Golden Girl

I spent most of Saturday trying to draw a picture of a friend that I wanted to paint. I just could not get her to look right. She looked about 12 (she is in her 50's), and it was very frustrating! I don't know how to fix this. I guess I just need to keep practicing? I really want to do portraits, but they need to look like the person I am painting. Sigh.

Tonight I sat down and drew A picture of Granny Foster, a wonderful 92 year old sister from my former Congregation. Well, she is no longer living, but she was something else. She had this way of punctuating her comments with these eye expressions; she was so funny. The picture turned out pretty close, it looked like her. I was looking forward to painting it and then tell you all about her.

I was not too far into trying to paint her, when she began to look suspiciously like Bea Arthur. You know- Maude, The Golden Girls... I like her, but she's no Velma Foster. aside from that, it looks okay. The eyes are too far apart I think. But it is not bad. When I get my phone battery charged back up, I will post the picture.

Now, any suggestions on how to draw or paint people who resemble their real life appearance?