Paint Seven Paintings in Seven [or more] Days

Two fellow artists/friends (Margie and Sylvia) challenged me to paint seven paintings in seven [or more] days. I added "or more" because sometimes life takes over and swallows the time I'd set aside for drawing/painting. Here is No. 1 of 7 (or more) titled Model with Blonde Hair I:

Model with Blonde Hair I • Watercolor

I decided my seven paintings will be portraits in watercolor. Edward Betts states that we get clues about our individual painting "strengths and obsessions" by examining what direction we've taken in our work. My sketchbooks are filled with drawings of people, faces, figures. My bins are filled with paintings of the same. Betts states the second step "is to cultivate those strengths, to push the work even farther in its natural direction toward whatever end it seems to be headed." We'll see where painting people in watercolor goes in seven days and beyond.

My process while painting Model with Blonde Hair I: Using a value sketch/drawing of this model as reference, I drew (free-hand) the shape of her face and features on the watercolor paper. In this particular painting, I laid a light cobalt blue wash over the pencil lines and let it dry. I angled my paper upright about 80º then using a flat 1-1/2 inch brush laid washes of yellow, yellow ochre, cadmium red light, and cerulean blue. After this wash dried, I loaded my round brush with mixes of the same colors (triad) and painted a shadow shape on the right side of her face (our right), then painted her eyes, nose, mouth, neck, and hair.

While this is the first of seven that I'm posting, it is my fourth painting of this particular model from the value sketch. I re-drew her free-hand each time. It's interesting to view similarities and differences among the paintings.