Mary Anger Is Face #68

"Mary Anger: Face #68", oil, 12"h x 12"w, copyright Jill Banks 2011

Mary came to sit for me today ... to become Face #68 in my 100 Faces in 100 Days Project. Her sitting was at 1pm today which should have let plenty of time for me to have my act together, all ready to go at my easel. But, no matter what the time of the sitting, I'm always scurrying around and missing one thing or another. The past couple of days I've been missing my razor/scraper that keeps my palette relatively neat and that's been driving me crazy. I keep looking for it in the same places, over and over again, hoping it will suddenly make an appearance. No luck yet.

Mary's husband, Scott Anger was Face #45 ... and Scott encouraged Mary to sit. He'd had a great time and figured that she would, too. (I believe she did.) When she first sat down, I was looking at her gray shirt, white/black/gray scarf and the gray wall behind her and realized that just wasn't going to work. After a hunt around the house, I rounded up a few scarves and this one did the trick. For clothing, sitters need some color, especially if they are sitting for me in my home studio. Some sort of interesting neckline to show you have a neck. (A scarf, necklace, collared shirt or v-neck all work.) I've been keeping this info to myself, however. I guess it's time to share it. This scarf worked great. I even enjoyed painting it.

One of the questions I commonly ask is where my sitter's family is from. I keep thinking that I'll see similarity in features or coloring that is ancestor-based. (Probably an unrealistic assumption or at least not all that useful.) Mary knew a whole lot more about her ancestry than anyone else I know. Her family has a farm in Kentucky that's been passed on for generations. Her mom's family have also stayed put in one place. And the stories of how they got here were interesting. We just don't usually know that much about our relatives many generations ago.

Painting went smoothly today other than trying to keep paints clean with my unruly palette. Mary was surprised that the painting turned out so well ... not that she had doubt in me ... just that it was odd to see a painting of you on a piece of panel that was white a few hours before. How did that happen?

Tomorrow: Bird Painting or Sketching in the Morning

Before I paint tomorrow's face (the teen-aged daughter of one of my sitters), I'll be participating in a bird anatomy lesson and drawing/sketching session of a live hawk led by the Audobon Society and sponsored by Great  Falls Studios that will be held at the Artists' Atelier, the studio I share with 16 other artists at 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA. Should be fun and maybe I can add Bird #3 to the Bird Exhibit we have up at the Atelier. (There are lots of bird-related art exhibits all around Great Falls leading up to the town's election of our official bird.)

In the afternoon, I'll be painting Face #69 either in the school space in Suite D or upstairs in the Atelier in Suite G ... but you're welcome to come see the Bird Exhibit, the "Four By Four" Exhibit in the Gallery (four paintings each by me, Mollie Vardell, Nancy Keane and Michela Mansuino) and my wall of faces in Suite D. Official open hours are Saturdays, noon-4pm ... so feel free to stop in.

Maybe you'll see paintings of a bird and a person tomorrow. Something different!

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project: www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435