Bubba

[Leopoldo Benavidez]

Input is much appreciated. Thank you.

[Daniel Arredondo]

Dear Leopoldo;

I like your painting very much. It is very expressive. This may be a gentle giant, but it is not someone I would want to argue with on any subject. Your drawing of the face is excellent and the spontaneity of the brushwork looks like it was painted from life and very rapidly, the brushstrokes also add to the rough personality of the individual.

The light sources you chose are very difficult to paint from, the very bright light coming from the left and the more medium intense light coming from the right. This lighting gives the darkest shades of the face at the middle of the face. You handled the face pretty well but the hair and the jacket would normally also get some of this light from the right.

There are two other things I would consider:

1.) the collar is not continuous on both sides of the head, the right side should come up or the left side down or a combination of both.

2.) The values look washed out or the paints don

[Steven Sweeney]

Very nice representation, which exudes character. "Bubba" sounds about right. The very first thought is that you've certainly captured the gentleman's likeness (or if you haven't, then he SHOULD look like this!!)

I generally like to see less use of white and more saturation of hues, but I realize that you're going for a particular "look" throughout the piece, and you're consistent, so this isn't a case where, say, a light chalky area is contrasting with richer treatment elsewhere in the piece.

Compositionally this is a set-up in which I would typically suggest backing the head up to get the face farther away from the edge. Here I actually think you've made the better decision, though; this fellow has presence, mass, and attitude, and the composition suggests to me a forward-leaning, sort of in-your-face gesture. The one change I'd be interested in seeing would be to arrest the movement off the left side of the portrait by having the subject's eyes looking straight out at the viewer, in a kind of "what are you lookin' at?" challenge. Also, a touch more color in the irises would increase the intensity of the eyes.

I would expect to see the widow's peak in the hairline to be closer to the center of the forehead, though I suspect that the appearance otherwise here my be due to the angle at which the hair is brushed back.

I think a darkening of the background next to the lighted side of the face, increasing the value contrast between figure and background, would have great effect in enhancing depth. Daniel's procedure for using acetate overlays would be a very useful method for testing this out.

Best,
Steven

[Leopoldo Benavidez]

Thank you both Daniel and Steven for your suggestions. Daniel, yes this was done in oils. This is basically a sketch done rapidly trying to put down values quickly and hitting the mark. It was an excercise in laying down a brush stroke and not to be tempted to blend and above all, not move the paint more than 3 times. I was trying for 1. Direction of light and how that should be played out on the opposite side make sense and also enhancing drama more by darkening the background on the lighted side. I like your acetate idea.

Steven, I like the "in your face" approach. This big man is a gentle being but believe me he can look very intimidated to the unfamiliar!