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This was done with a friend as a model. Oil, 16 x 20. I'm considering modeling the shirt a bit more, and possibly putting more highlights in the eyes. As you can see, I took liberties with the hair, which she frequently wears down. I was not able to get much in the way of photos, as she is shy and doesn't like her picture taken.

The work in the background is hers and she did not want it included, as it is under her copyright.

The intention was in transmitting a feeling, not on doing commercially flattering portrait..

Please feel free to critique.

Wow, Julie! I think this is a really powerful portrait. I think your decision to steer away from doing a"flattering" portrait was a wise one, because actually it is not unflattering. She is a very attractive woman, and you have captured something else: her individuality, which makes it tons more interesting.

I have a few nit-picky comments. First, I think the skin tones could use a little more warmth on the jaw and the forehead as her face turns away from the light source. You might try her basic skin tone mixed with less white, a bit of cadmium orange and/or yellow deep, and a bit of complementary color (ultramarine blue). That's how I would mix it, but you probably have your own way! The other comment I have is the nebulous quality of her dress/blouse. The shoulders seem too massive, even if she is a large woman, which I can't tell from the photo. I am guessing here, but maybe you don't have enough information from reference photos. If you don't, I would go back and take more of her torso so you can get a little more form (light, shadow, folds of material, shoulder line etc.). Otherwise, it is, and will be, magnificent. What a soulful portrayal of your friend!

Alex

Thanks for your kind comments, Alexandra -

I agree totally with your comments about skin tone and the shoulders.

It feels good to have my opinions about the deficiencies of a work confirmed by another artist. It means I am learning to catch the problems.

Now, if I can avoid the problems to begin with!

Julie,
I think that this could be fine. But there is one detail that attracts my eye and that is the location of the nose. It should be moved to the left.

Allan

Hi Julie--
This has a wonderful natural 'feel' to it, love the expression :)

You might want to glaze some transparent yellows over the earring on our right. . . as the two look mismatched right now :bewildere

Thanks, Allan and Terri -

****, Allan, you're right about the nose. ****, ****, ****! (gee, this website won't let me say the "d" word)

Thanks for the note about the yellow, Terry.

Julie,

I very much like what is happening in this portrait! I like the unconventional lighting you have used...your light source looks very cool, and I think your skin tones work very well. For the sake of finish, I think I'd consider warmer reds in the under planes of the chin and nose, the latter of which will help define the shape of the tip of the nose more clearly.

I agree that the scale of the dress is perhaps too large. The red dress is too similar in shape and size to the draped background. Its powerful color will balance the painting well, I think, if you paint her shoulders in a more oblique position, letting the draped painting continue to the bottom of the picture, with fewer square inches devoted to the red shape. You have a beautiful color scheme going on, and simple, strong passages of value, giving the whole thing a very strong design, and I think some tiny changes can make it even more so. As an alternative, you might add a shawl over her shoulder on our left, similar in value and color to the background to diminish the amount of space the red dress takes...

I am also really nitpicking, but only because I think you are doing such a great job.

Thanks, Chris. I have a potential problem with continuing the background painting downwards. It is done with extremely thinned paint - almost rubbed in to let the canvas shine through. The red paint of the dress has eliminated the possibility of getting down to that toned canvas. But I could extend the wall downward, using a similar tone to the painting. It's hard to see in this little jpeg, but there is a suggestion of the bottom of the frame there now. It wouldn't be too hard to continue the wall, just use thicker paint for that part.
The skin tone really did get too light - my friend is actually fairly tan, half native American, and I made her look like a paleface. Even though I can argue to myself that "it's just the lighting", I know better, and feel I need to darken up a bit.
Plus I have to fix that **** nose. This is the second portrait I have messed up on spacing in this area. I hate having "pet" goofs - that is, things that tend to show up the same time after time.
Please don't think I'm beating myself up too much over this - I like the painting too, and have hopes of making it something of which I will be proud.

Julie,

I dunno, I like it just the way it is. I like the strong red shape with the modeled head, it successfully references the simple dark green square in the background. I do not find the nose disturbing and I like the pinky pale skin tones as a foil to the red and dark green. Leave it alone, it is a very descriptive and original portrait of an original artist. I really applaud the departure from photographic reality.

Thanks, Sharon

Hah! That's me all right - especially when it comes to NOSES!