One of the nice things about focusing on one part of the anatomy is I get to notice little things that I would otherwise miss if I was doing the whole figure. One of the things I've noticed is the way that the tips of the fingers and thumb have a more red tint to them than the rest of hand. Little stuff like that is what makes doing studies like this so valuable.

Doing another portrait from a photo and decided picked the actress Natalia Tena who is best known for playing Tonks in the Harry Potter movies. This is going to be another three hour portrait and this is hour one.

Another day another hand. I'm getting better but some of the color seems a bit off. Also I would have like if some of these photos had more dramatic lighting but they were free so I shouldn't complain to much. 

So it's finished and while it doesn't approach the skill of Zorn I think that I learned a lot from doing this. Some areas gave me a lot of trouble, the wrinkles around the jaw and eyes giving me a lot of grief. The lighting also gave me trouble.

One of the toughest things about drawing hands is when there holding something, that has always caused me a lot of trouble. So naturally on the second day I do these studies the three hands I get are all holding something. I think this one doesn't have enough contrast so it feels a little flat to me, but other than that not bad. 

Hour two of my copy of Zorn's portrait of the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. I've added color and continued shaping the face and I think that in another hour it will be a nice painting. Two fun facts about Cleveland, he was drafted into the civil war but paid for someone to take his place (legally) and until 1969 he was on the 1000$ bill.

So I've struggled with hands for while so I decided to spend a couple weeks practicing hands. I'm going to do two five minute hands and then do a thirty minute study. In addition I'm doing twenty minutes of gesture drawings. This first pone came out pretty good even if some of the colors are a bit wonky, its a bit more orange that it should be. I'm still struggling with my second monitors color issues. 

Doing another copy now, this one is President Grover Cleveland the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms from 1885 - 1889 and from 1893 - 1897. The painting was done by Anders Zorn a Swedish painter who is one of my favorites. This is going to be a three hour study and this is the first hour.

The last drapery study for a while. And I think that this one is a good one to end on, I think that this one came out nice. There's a nice definition to all the folds and the color looks nice. I think that this whole two week study has been extremely valuable and I will probably do it again in the near future.

Roger Moore is done. A lot of the last hour of work on this one was to just tighten up edges and details. Oh and the hair, which was a battle. Hair might be something I spend some time studying in the future. Ugh that list is growing faster than I can check things off. But at least I'm checking things off and as long as I keep doing that I feel like I'm making progress.

I think that this one worked out pretty good. I think that the colors worked out really well and while some parts of the cloth could have used a bit more definition overall not bad. 

Hour two of my Roger Moore painting. Added color and tweaked some of the facial features. I think that it's coming along well and I think another hour and it'll be good. 

 After almost two weeks of doing these studies I think I'm running out of things to say. These are all 30 minute drapery studies none of them are going to be fantastic and they rarely need much of an explanation. I'm almost done with them so soon I'll be able to go on to another subject.

Roger Moore the third James Bond. I always like the sense of humor be brought to the role; the dry one liners he delivered and his banter with Q. This is going to be a three hour portrait and this would be hour one and I was having some trouble because of the downward angle of the face and the little half smile he has going on. Both of these things are the reason I choose this photo because they are things that I need to work on but both of these things make the portrait harder to paint hence this not being as far along as I think it should be.