Portrait of Morgan
 

This oil on linen is actually a work in progress but I would very much like your input. I am planning on locking myself in my studio this weekend and would like to hear your thoughts before I isolate myself from the rest of the world.

The arms and hands are not complete but one more layer of paint should do it. The dark reflection on the water is merely just blocked in at this point. I incorporated some of your suggestions from the photo critiques section. Additional work to the branch/leaves she is holding will come later.

Head detail

Nice start Mike! This is going to be beautiful.

It's still in progress so you are most likely planning this, but the hairline around her face on our left jumps out at me right now. Have a great weekend painting.

Dear Mike:

In terms of the overall aesthetic idea of this portrait, I think you

Scott & Kim,

Thanks for the responses.

The greenery is something that I have been extremely cautious of throughout the process. I have prints of Bouguereau's work mounted on my studio walls as reference to help keep me on the straight and narrow, he of course was a master of the outdoor portrait.

I may experient with darkening the shadow on the left side of her face to create more definition/contrast to see how it looks. Also, I'm still not totally comfortable with the close value range between the dress/water, I am still considering that area.

Dear Mike:

You might want to look at how Lawrence lights some of his subjects. I recently bought a few Lawrence prints from the National Portrait Gallery in London and hung them next to my easel. In some cases his light source comes from around 11:30 creating very dark (yet localized) shadows under the brow and nose. The contast between the light flesh tone and dark shadows creates a sledgehammer impression. Unfortunately, you can