My portrait of Jana. I had a choice but the smile in this one and the raised eybrows were too much to reisist but both of which havent come through! C’est la vie 😛 It’s been great doing this swap. I feel I ‘ve got to know both Casey and Jana a bit better.
Jana very sweetly tackled both the photos that I sent her and you can see them here. I especially love the one of me laughing as coz that’s the way I usually am – ever the optimist!
I’ve mentioned the Portrait Party in the earlier post. This one is headed there too and I’ll update the post as soon as I have a link. I’ve enjoyed both the swaps and If any of you would like to do one with me leave me a comment. I may not be able to make it immediately but I’d love to continue swapping.
Forgot to add that I used two new sets of conte crayons for this piece – sketching ‘n portrait. I had expected them to be richer and creamier than the Sudha crayons that I had been using. They have the same feel as regular pastels – dry, powdery and messy! I made several trips to the dustbin to dust off the surface before going forward.
I feel as though I know her now! Great job, Ujwala. Pastels are messy, but they give beautiful results, and you handle the medium well.
It is fascinating to see this portrait of me… It’s beautifully done and definitely captures the mood and expression in the photo. What’s really odd is that it resembles some of my relatives more than it does my perception of my own appearance. Thank you for inviting me to do this portrait swap with you. It’s been great fun!
Thank you Casey. Pastels are a fairly new medium for me. I had thought that Conte crayons were a separate medium somewhere in between oil and dry/soft pastels only to realise that they’re pastels too. I’ve used Conte pencils, the Pierre Noir ones and they are really creamy and smooth. I was expecting a similar feel with these and so was a bit disappointed.
Thank you Jana. I’ve enjoyed both these swaps. I’ve made a few minor changes to your portrait and plan to update in the morning. There are a lot of problems with likeness in both of them but I need to step back and see them in a day or two to see exactly where I went wrong. I think paints are easier to handle as you can make many corrections easily. My husband says it looks better larger sized and IRL than here on the screen.
Thank you both. You’ve been great partners. If you feel up to it I’d love to do another one a few months down the line.
draw the line 
I feel as though I know her now! Great job, Ujwala. Pastels are messy, but they give beautiful results, and you handle the medium well.
It is fascinating to see this portrait of me… It’s beautifully done and definitely captures the mood and expression in the photo. What’s really odd is that it resembles some of my relatives more than it does my perception of my own appearance. Thank you for inviting me to do this portrait swap with you. It’s been great fun!
Thank you Casey. Pastels are a fairly new medium for me. I had thought that Conte crayons were a separate medium somewhere in between oil and dry/soft pastels only to realise that they’re pastels too. I’ve used Conte pencils, the Pierre Noir ones and they are really creamy and smooth. I was expecting a similar feel with these and so was a bit disappointed.
Thank you Jana. I’ve enjoyed both these swaps. I’ve made a few minor changes to your portrait and plan to update in the morning. There are a lot of problems with likeness in both of them but I need to step back and see them in a day or two to see exactly where I went wrong. I think paints are easier to handle as you can make many corrections easily. My husband says it looks better larger sized and IRL than here on the screen.
Thank you both. You’ve been great partners. If you feel up to it I’d love to do another one a few months down the line.
Your portraits are inspiring! Very well done.