Richard Watson

I dabbled with acrylics in the 1970’s, and then I took a long break. I picked up the hobby again in 2007, using BOTH acrylics and colored pencils. I took an interesting acrylics art course from Al Beyer at USCA in 2009. The painting below is of our cat, Junior. I painted his picture from a photograph. Before the paint was even dry, Junior jumped up on the table and stood next to his picture. I was able to grab this photo before he jumped off the table. This photo, DOUBLE EXPOSURE, won first place in a national contest on the internet.

By 2012, I was devoted primarily to the colored pencil. My favorite subject is portraits—-those comprise 95% of my work. Since 2007, I have produced qbout 100 watercolor paintings, and over 1500 colored pencil pictures.

The portability of the colored pencil medium is super. It’s simple to carry a pencil case and a pad of paper on a train, an airplane, or as a passenger in a car. Also I carry a pocket-sized watercolor kit by Winsor & Newton. It has just 12 colors, but that limitation forces me to gain skill with mixing and blending colors.