Thank you everyone for your kind responses.
Carlos, I definitely was thinking about Scarlett Johansson when I was painting this - and you're right, it's the lips.
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Originally Posted by Thomasin Dewhurst
Very fine work. I admire how you keep the paint rich at the same time as taking away the brush marks.
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Thomasin, thank you. It's interesting what you say, because all the while I was painting this, I kept hearing myself say, "this is not how I want to paint." While I am fairly pleased with the result, I feel that maybe I am too much "taking away the brush marks." I sense that the real expressive power of paint on canvas has as much to do with the richness of the surface as with the illusion being created. But I don't want to just have interesting brushwork for it's own sake, without it
meaning something, without it fully supporting the illusion. I see a lot of paintings out there that have all kinds of bravura brushwork, but which in the final analysis, don't add up to anything. If I get more "painterly," I want it to be because that's a better, more efficient way to convey the illusion - as well as the atmosphere, mood and emotion of the piece.
To temper my current frustration with the way I paint, I also remind myself that I haven't been painting very long, and that I just need to paint a whole lot more - and that in time I will find better - and quicker, more efficient - ways of laying down paint. So I'm not going to force anything. I will just let my natural curiosity lead me. I also think that working more from life will be key.
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