Facing sideways

David Clemons · 02-13-2009, 12:09 PM

Many times the features of the face are less symmetrical than we're led to believe. The mind tells us one thing and the eyes another. Trust the eyes.

If you concentrate on first getting down the things that are the most critical in terms of placement before the model may move, then it won't matter as much when she does. A few quick lines to get things in their place is often all you need. After that, the model is more a reference than the source of literal copying.

Madelaine Boothby · 02-14-2009, 11:43 AM

Wow, I had not received any further notifications and so many people wrote such valuable suggestions on here. Thank you. I have indeed determined that even with young pretty girls, parts of the face DO sag towards the pull of gravity. This accounts for some of the distortion that I found, but not all of it.
I found the changing light of the day rather maddening, but here is my second try at painting her. She felt better this time and held still a lot better.
and thanks, ALL of you for your wisdom.

Michele Rushworth · 02-14-2009, 12:21 PM

What an interesting thread -- and a great improvement in the resulting image. Kudos to you for attempting such a challenging pose in such a challenging medium!

Richard Budig · 06-18-2009, 02:15 PM

Sorry to come so late to this conversation . . .

I used to study with a painter who would appoint one of us (in the workshop) as keeper of the pose. When the model would drift, settle, or get off pose, the "keeper" would correct the pose. He also used to put a dab of masking tape on the wall, or somewhere the model could see it and use it a bit like radar . . . something to fix a gaze on. This usually worked well for everyone.

As to seeing bllue, or any other color on your model, I used to work with another painter who often said that he had never seen a model that affected the background, but he had seen many backgrounds that affected the model . . . in other words, it intirely possible to see blue, or other colors on your model's skin. I'm not sure you should paint it in a garish manner, but it it's there, it ought to be included in some way.