I'm tryin' again

[Jimmie Arroyo]

Thanks Allen for the tips.

So, I broke down and spent the money on the Doaks. His range of blues are beautiful, just wish I could have gotten more.

Worked on the shirt for a couple hours, maybe longer, and worked on her hair. Even with the new colors, the shirt was a struggle, reworking multiple times. The hair was a bit of luck, once I found a good color, it went fairly painless.

My next panic attack will be the background. I'm going to make some color sketches because I would really like to add some kind of border in the orange family. Preferably simple and basic.

Thanks for looking.

[Mary Sparrow]

WOW! Jimmie it looks fantastic.

[Garth Herrick]

Geez! Jimmie you are fantastic!

[Patricia Joyce]

Jimmie,
You are so AWESOME!!!! Viewing this piece this morning just gave me a shot of endorphins. What a great way to start my morning. I love this, Jimmie!!!!!!

[Carol Broman]

You need to buy yourself some oil paint and a canvas and get cracking! You have a gorgeous painterly style that is just screaming to be translated in a wet medium! Very inspiring. Thank you!

[Jimmie Arroyo]

Thanks very much guys.

Carol, I had been taking oil classes but it did'nt work out for a few reasons. Once things get better, I have intentions to start up again.

Thanks again.

[David Draime]

Jimmie,

You have raised the bar for pastels. Thanks a LOT!!!

[Sharon Knettell]

Personally I think (ahem) that pastels are underrated as a serious medium. They have a freshness, immediacy and sparkling color that oils sometimes cannot touch. In the 18th century pastellists were banned from showing their work at the French Salons' annual show because they outshone the oils. That helped speed their decline in popular usage. Most of us remember Degas from his beautiful ballet pastels, which he devoted himself to later in his career.

That said, I want to congratulate Jimmie for the beautiful piece, bringing pastel into the 21th century. It was not too long ago he was wallowing in his first effort trying to make sense of this particular medium. That usually happens in the first several attempts. That he was able to do this lovely piece on his second try is remarkable.

Beautiful blues Jimmie.

Secondly, I would not worry about getting closeups of eye details, there is usually distortion and the excess of detail can make our efforts look rather photographic and less painterly.