|
Allan,
I hope you don't mean that my words inspired discouragement. This picture would pass a lot of tests. It is charming, lively and fresh.
I don't think anyone realizes how difficult skintones are to do in pastel. You either have mud or it is too pasty. You have successfully avoided each.
One suggestion I would make, is to strenghthen your picture plane. You have to decide before you start a picture where the light is coming from. This face is lit totally from the front which has a tendency to somewhat flatten the form, making it more diffcult to define form. The picture plane I referred to is the overall light and dark of the total picture. There should be one side, top or bottom that would be darker, instead of the overall flatness of your background.
In other words, I would have lit her slighly to the left, resulting in the background being darker on the left and lighter on the right. This would give more depth to the painting and heighten the light areas of the face making them more luminous.
I hope this explanation makes sense.
|