Steve

[Cynthia Daniel]

In Photoshop, all you need to do is open the file and then do a "file | save as" - give it a new name and it takes you right to the compression selection as you go through the save process.

Many of the images on the site were needlessly huge. With the accumulation over time, eventually, the Forum would have to have it's own hard drive.

[Jean Kelly]

I wasn't really complaining Cynthia, I understand about all that stuff, I was just whining about having to learn something new. Old dogs and new tricks!

We're going to try Steve again, hopefully this one looks better.

I made some major changes on this, mainly palette. I went back to the complimentary colors that I love so much. Repainted all skin, the shirt and jeans, and softened the background more. I also raised his eyebrows and eyes and moved the eyes further apart. The photo of the whole painting has some glare on the darker values so I added a close-up of his face to show the darks on the shadow side.

Jean

[Mike McCarty]

Jean,

I admire your tenacity and I think you have done yourself a huge favor by changing your palette. There was too much color sameness throughout in the previous posts.

I have a couple of comments that you can ponder. The differences I see have to do with the fact that you have taken your subject from one lighting situation and placed him in to another. More particularly, in the reference the man is under a porch, lit from the front with shadows created by the dark side of the porch.

You have in some respects translated this lighting scheme into your outdoor painting. The direct light we see on the mans hands and forearms in the photo, taken literally into the painting, now look like highlights. In your outdoor scene there would be much more ambient light that would create a more homogeneous lighting effect.

I would look at his painted left arm going up from just above the wrist, the way you have handled the shifts and tone, and I would try and replicate that scheme all the way down to his finger tips. Reducing the some of the contrasty value shifts that I think would not be present with outdoor ambient light.

Next, in the photo, if you will notice the dark values under the hands, these are the result of both the lack of ambient light (the dark side of the porch as taken this away) and the want of a photograph to intensify dark values. I would lighten this area up and maybe replace with a bit of blue reflected light. Maybe, for the same reasons, a bit on the underside of his jeans as well.

I hope this helps, best of luck.

[Jean Kelly]

Eureka, she's got it! Thanks Mike, I think you've nailed the problem I've been trying to solve. It just never looked right, like he wasn't really in the sun or in the foreground. Changing the palette felt better but still didn't solve the major problem. Steve will be back with ambient light, and this will be my last attempt at jerryrigging references.

Jean

[Jean Kelly]

Well, here he is with some major revisions. Jeans, shirt, foreground, skin, there is some glare on the left from wet paint. He's finally starting to look like he's in the sun.

Thanks Mike!

Jean

[Jean Kelly]

I had Noah's portrait out next to Steve's and came down to the studio/dining room Wed morning realized how much I hated this protrait of Steve. I attacked the canvas, determined to start having fun instead of pulling my hair out. This was not a portrait of Steve but was a man with a landscape and I didn't really know what to look at.

This is what I came up with. I'll be putting the real shadows back in (have started already), adding the smoke wafting up will complete the painting and now I'm having fun!

Jean

ps--- There is glare on the photo due to wet dark paint, I'll have a better photo later as it dries.

[Michele Rushworth]

I like this a lot better.