|
Thank-you, Mischa and Alexandra, for your most helpful critiques. This is one of my most recent works and the best I was capable of when I painted it. (Athough, I always seem to surprise myself with getting better with each new work, and crits like yours certainly help with motivating improvement.)
Mischa, I do still have a certain anxiety when I paint - you know, the old problem of being too precious - I do feel like I will obliterate my individual style if I work too much on a painting. I'd rather just paint a new one. That being said, I don't want to move away from the immediacy of paint application and the roughness, even ugliness of paintmarks which I feel is my own. But, again, if it is my own, then, as you said, it will take care of itself.
Could you please tell me what you saw in the work, Mischa, that made you say I might be holding things back.
Alexandra, I'll take a look at the shadows again. Under the arm - the armpit - there was a certain fleshiness, but I do think,after looking again, the orange edge to the shadow may have a too-exaggerated curve to the right. The model was fleshy, but I see what you mean about the armpit being concave there. I wasn't sure, though, what you meant about the ambiguity of the blue shadow under the naval - I'll take another look.
All in all, the key to everything seems to be drawing, drawing , drawing. Which is, in fact, great as it is what I like best about the whole affair.
Thanks again for the crits. They made me want to get up and paint.
|