And while I'm letting that rest, I'm trying another portrait of Alaina (granddaughter, age 8). There is something so difficult about getting her features right once I start putting the paint on the paper. The first try was on hotpress paper = stupid choice = gave up when she began to look so clownish.
So I pulled out a piece of 300# rough (so it will take some scrubbing and modeling of the features after the paint is on).
I don't know what is giving me such fits with this portrait but I'm definitely calling it the hardest portrait I've tried so far...
6 comments:
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When I am doing something really important - like a commission- I always do a small mock up first to get my colours worked out and decide if I like the composition.
Seems to have worked for you too.
Portraits are frustrating to me as well....in fact, I've always said I'd paint portraits of my children but have yet to do so because of avoiding that frustration. Probably not a good way to face a problem head on, but I'll get to it someday. Keep marching forward, you'll get it.
Muchas gracias, Leovi, para detener y comentarios. Tienes algunas fotografías muy potentes en tu blog – fantástica!
Joan, we're always told to do small works first, value studies, etc. but I think most of us don't do them - it's good to work out the kinks and maybe it's a good thing for me to do to slow down and see what works and what doesn't before diving into something big.
Gretchen, portraits of children have to be so lightly handled or they start to age right away! I'll keep trying, though. Not sure why her features are fighting me - or maybe I'm just unsure of the colors I should use on her - she's a very intense girl, bold and aggressive in a lot of ways so I'm thinking bold colors - but it's hard to pull off on a little girl!
I find that its more difficult for me to do portraits of people I know rather than strangers for some reason.
Children are especially difficult and light layers with careful colour choices seem to work - mostly. :)
I'm a firm believer in studies before starting a major piece. It really helps to work out the colour palette and what works. Often I put swatches of colour on the side of study and make notes of the colours I use. Yes it seems like a pain to do, but in the long run it works in my favour.
Jeanette, you do a great job on your portraits - but you might be right about knowing the person or not. Seems like I need more detachment somehow. I must have done 3 studies already, since I consider all the prior ones studies (that didn't work). Maybe I didn't learn from them?
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