Little girl
 

Hello!

This is a six-year-old Turkish girl, the daughter of the owner of a Turkish shop. Not a really commission! (What a lucky boy I am. ;))

Unfortunately I made took no picture of the underpainting -- to compensate, I had must do this over again and again ... as punishment.

I've had really big problems with the likeness. I'm not happy with it. I've best rendered the hair and the right side of face. Another problem is the eyes, I can't integrate them into the face! Makes me crazy. But I see a little brushwork and technique improvement.

But Sharon said the whole truth to me:

"Your artistic underpinnings need to be strengthened first. You need to make simple black and white drawing of objects, figures, then drapery, before you attempt anything in color. All of these have to be done from life, not photos.

Once you master the basics you will find you can add techniques and your attempts will be far more successful and less frustrating. This will take time. There are no shortcuts."

EDITING:

Excuse me, I was a VIP (very inattentive person)!
I lent my camera to my boss (an other technic-genius), and the white balance had a totally wrong setting.Now I post the last 2 pictures.Colors are better now. Sorry for my crazy-head!

The reference photo, zoomed out from a tiny 4cm x 3cm) picture.

Dear Leslie,

I must agree with Sharon. You should master the basics before tackling something as difficult as portraiture. Don't give up, though.

Basic
 

Hi

Thank you, Michele, you are very diplomatic.:)

I'm a very impatience guy. I see in me a little spark of talent.

I learned here following rules:

-- More seeing than painting, more or less;

-- Painting is an illusion, thinking (insight) being a more important thing than all others;

-- Painting is not only a thing of skill, more head-work;

-- And last but not least:buy more white. ;)

Now I've drawn this for the beginning:

That's a good subject to start with. The website www.wetcanvas.com might be a good place for you to ask for critiques of still life exercises such as this.

You do indeed seem to have talent, and more importantly, the drive to do the work to obtain the skills.

Good luck and I hope to see your portrait work back on this Forum sometime down the road!

Thank you Michele!

I changed the picture. See above.

Best wishes!