Conceptual
 

I'll watch for it.

Jean

Tangents, eh? New to me. I was never good at algebra.

Josh's new haircut
 

I've made the changes discussed earlier, and can see the difference. Thanks, Chris and Steven. Now all I have to watch for is edges, color, value, tone, consistency, and everything else that is taught on this forum! Oil is forgiving so any other comments will be welcomed.

Jean

Seeing it smaller
 

Now that I see it on the monitor, there still seems to be a straight line from his vest to upper hand. Should I lower it further? (the hand)

Just shooting from the hip, I think you might have actually introduced another "tangent" issue by bringing the sky color down so far on the left side of the head, for now the top of the foliage aligns with the collar/neck. And while of course there will be variation in the height of the foliage, the substantial difference now between that height on either side of the head kinds of reads as a disconnect for me.

As for the vest/hand lines, yes, I still see the same problem, but easily taken care of, I think, by just letting the line of the vest "form fit" his body, curving downward to the button area, so that the "V" points toward the middle of the hand instead of along its top edge.

Diagonals!
 

I'm headed back to the canvas again. Will keep repeating to myself, no diagonals, no diagonals, no diagonals. Thanks Steven, you confirmed what I saw as soon as I posted it.

Jean

Help with skin tones
 

I'll finally be back to painting today after a long week of new grandson, Thanksgiving, wedding and birthday. It will be refreshing to escape to painting.

I'd like some advice on the skin tones for this child. The photos I have show him with orangish skin and I'd like to try to get away from the photo look if possible. Since I've never seen him in person I need to go by the pictures. I thought he was Hispanic, but he's actually a true multi-national child! African-american, Caucasion, and Hispanic.

I hope all tangents are taken care of at this point (or will be). Please disregard the lower hand as I'm still working on it. I also want to bring red into the painting and am thinking of changing pants to a deep alizarin crimson, and adding a crimson pattern to the tie.

Jean

First the painting:

Josh in reality
 

Now the photo:

Skin tones
 

Well, I've spent the last two days mixing different skin tones. And think I've found my solution, I'll just mix them all together! Just kidding. Actually I did resolve my own problem, and things are starting to fall in place. I wish that the reference photo was lit from other than above. I don't care for the large shadow area on his forehead. I remember from another thread that its not so much how you paint but what you paint. Another gem to keep in mind for the future. Will post my progress in a few days.

Jean

Update
 

I've switched the light to a cool light with warm shadows, following Chris's book. It has made all the difference. Client saw it today and said I nailed the skin tones. Now I have to switch all the rest of the painting, but I'm feeling better about it. Thanks again, Chris.

Jean