"Everybody knows a work of art takes at least an hour!" Lucy to Linus, (Peanuts)

FineArtViews Painting Competition - Twice in the Fav 15%

http://canvoo.com/boldbrush/badge/13203 three times selected for FAV15%, Fine Art Views Bold Brush Painting Competition

Saturday, September 4, 2010

A Shifty Business

Repositioning the mouth and nose made all the difference. I felt comfortable going in to work more on the skin tones and bring out highlights on the entire face. This is the burden, if you will,
of portrait painting, constant shuffling, shifting, and reworking. Patience pays off. Acceptance that it probably isn't going to be right the first two, five, or ten times of making changes...but that with each change it will be closer. Only very occasionally have I found that all this change making made a portrait worse and that usually indicates a fundamental problem that goes back to the initial concept...the pose, lighting, or composition. I am not entirely finished with the face but for now I will move on to another area so that what I have done has time to stew in my brain. I may yet discover another shifting that has to be made. Note that the way I work on a portrait is not necessarily the way anyone else should. I have developed my process over time to suit my temperament. I know some portrait artists who paint very directly and are able to make the changes very quickly, or may have to make hardly any changes at all. We aren't all shifty:-)

11 comments:

  1. Karen, you did an amazing job with this portrait. You nailed it...beautiful job!!!

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  2. Wonderful painting, it shows that a painting is much better than a photo, gorgeous colors,
    thanks for visiting my blog.

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  3. I'm shifty for sure! It always amazes me how the tiniest, tiniest of adjustments can change the whole face in a portrait. I watched an excellent portrait artist at work in Piazza Navona two weeks or so ago, she added the slightest of highlights and the work sprung to life. It was amazing to watch in person. I can see exactly the same thing happening here. It's fascinating and reaffirms by belief that the power of shadows and highlights should never be underestimated.

    It's great to see the work coming along and coming to life. Thanks for following my new blog, I really hope I can make something intersting come of it and I'm sure you'll crop into a link not before too long. Have a great day!

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  4. Absolutely beautiful. Your art is amazing! Thanks for the visit to my blog Karen.

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  5. Really stunning Karen. And you are SO right about the little things making a HUGE difference. But with watercolor, I can't go back and fix it usually, which makes for lots of throw aways :)

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  6. The unforgiving quality of watercolour is a big reason why I don't use it often! You are braver than I!

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  7. I think this is so beautiful, Sally!
    It's great to follow all the stages
    Wonderful!!!

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  8. Wonderful painting and I have truely enjoyed watching it come together for you. It is also reassuring to know that you accept it as a given that all these adjustments will happen. I will start thinking of it in that manner too.

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  9. Beautiful portrait (and model!). Love the way you brightened the skin tones.

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  10. Wow, this is a lovely portrait of a lovely woman. Nice job, Karen!

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