  |
|
|
Dixie Lee Howe
Portraiture
In the late 1950's, my father served three years in the
United States Air Force in Mississippi. He met and married
my mother, who is from Jackson, Mississippi, and brought
her home to his native southern California. In Orange County,
my parents raised my brother and I. I started sketching
at age nine and have never really stopped. I received a
lot of positive feedback from family, friends and teachers
about my artistic ability. I can remember wanting to sketch
faces more than any other subject. I have had no formal
training or art education, except two art history classes.
However, I might consider taking classes in oil painting
in the future. Doing portraits is a passion and the only
reason I didn't pursue it sooner is because I never felt
I could support myself doing it. One of the things I did
in my spare time for fun as a child, was take large
|
|
|
| |
photos of cosmetic models out of various fashion magazines,
cut the face in half, glue it on a white piece of paper and
sketch the other half of the face. I also love literature
and have several units of English and General Education from
various schools. I met my husband in Santa Clara County and
he is a native of Marin County, California. Some of the things
I will do in the future are various sketches of my native
Orange County (for example ocean views of Newport Beach and
Laguna, as well as, sketches with people other than just portraits.
However, people, and in particular, formal portraits of them,
are a never-ending source of creative inspiration for me.
As far as having a creative philosophy, I have a simple
desire and it is to do portraits that will have a lasting
quality and meaning for the client. With any other subjects
I do, I only wish to do work that has a positive emotional
meaning or response for people. For example, if I do something
with flowers or animals, I want that sketch to leave a positive
impact. I will continue to learn or research a variety of
techniques from other artists who have been working longer
than I have. For example, I enjoy learning from Ann Kullberg.
She is a pioneer in the field of colored pencil art/portraiture
and has published many helpful books. I've also gained insight
from Bernard Poulin, as well as, Cecil Baird. Aside from
that, I also learn from my own mistakes.
|
|
|
|
|
