It was such a pleasure to be commissioned by a friend, Gary, to paint a portrait of his wife, my dear friend Jenn. I often hesitate to take on portrait projects because it’s not really my thing – not this time. I knew Jenn’s distinctive mischievous mouth would be fun to render, even though the paper version is a pale imitation of the real thing. Thanks Gary for a delightful brief!

The more I work with watercolours, the more I like them. The contradictions are what makes them so interesting – somehow achieving a controlled randomness is the goal, and approaching an illustration with planning and patience while still allowing for instantaneous improvisation is a trick that takes practice. I feel like I am over the initial steep learning curve, though I have a long way to go.

By the way, you should check out what my smart, fun friends are into: Gary edits Aggregation Magazine – a clever collection of generalist links, and Jenn is the online editor of FLARE.com, the website of one of Canada’s most respected fashion publications.

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