Jimmie,

STOP It is complete. Fresh and beautiful.

I saw this and thought to myself, "D***, he's good!"

Stop stressing Jimmie, all your drawing is paying off in a big way. This looks like your style, it's fresh, sensual, and exciting!

Jean

Yeah, me too. Swore out loud when I opened this post up. Keep coming back to look some more.

Beautiful Jimmie!

Jimmie, Jimmie, Jimmie, if you only saw what mine look like when I am in a stress mode you'd wonder why you are stressing. If this is what you do when you are stressed I can't imagine what you will do when you feel like you have gotten the hang of it. I remember the first few times I used a pastel how awkward they felt to me, like I just didn't have much control (compared to drawing with a pencil). But once you get used to the way they feel in your hand, I bet you won't be so worried about what you are doing. You are definately a gifted man! :thumbsup:

Absolutely! (will work, that is - not the stupid part... :) ).

The whole piece seems to be a study in complimentary colors of blue & orange. The burnt orange in the shirt will add a lot of depth, especially if you scumble over it with different shades of blue.

In the smidgen of reference photo that we can see - you've got the exact opposite effect on the top of her hair - that beautiful blue refected light will perfectly mirror what you've got going on in her shirt.

This is a natural progression for your beautiful drawing style. :thumbsup:

I don't know a thing about Pastels. But I know a beautiful portrait when I see one. And my eyes are feasting on this one Jimmie. Please keep creating - your work is always uniquely yours and extremely beautiful.

I was stressed in my studio last night after working some sketches for my next piece, and to relax, I pulled out your demo on how to draw hair - just enjoyed looking at your work in developmental stages. You continue to inspire me!

This is wonderful, Jimmie. I keep coming back to look at the nose again. (What's the surface that you're using, or did I miss that in these posts?)

Thanks so much guys, I feel so much better. So much in fact, that I assumed you were all lying and put another 2 1/2 hours into the face and background last night. I'm just kidding, I felt you guys were being honest, but still put more work into it. I adjusted the eyes, the mouth needed to be slightly bigger, the nose was too small, and her left cheek was drawn incorrectly. I fixed them last night and feel better about it now. I still need to work on the eyes at a later time. What's screwing me up is the amount of mascara she's wearing. It completely hides that pretty pink rim on the lower eyelid. I'm considering faking it by practicing on a different piece of paper.

I have a few colors from different companies. I posted a pic of my set under here. In no way would I consider it a palette as I jump around from color to color cursing until something looks ok.

I start with the Polychromos, which are like the Nupastels. I like the Polychromos more, they are a little softer and they're supposed to last longer(lightfast). They work nicely for details later on also. I use Rembrandts early for blocking in shapes, I have a portrait and landscape set of them. I also have a small portrait set of Giraults. They're used the most because it's like holding a pencil, just wish I could afford the entire set. There's a small portrait set of Unison's that I use late in the painting. They have a real nice color, imo, for flesh highlights labled RE13. It's the lightest color in the face. Got some portrait Schminke's, but they're rarely used.

I'll post some updates and let you know what I've been doing. Thanks again everyone.

Thanks for the recent replies that must have been posted while I was typing.

Appreciate the info on the shirt Cindy!

Linda, the nose has been worked on. I like it more than before, hopefully everyone will agree. Added her nose stud also. The paper I'm working on is Wallis museum grade. I tried airbrushing some color before I started, but it has gotten lighter, something I did'nt expect but should have. I bought some of the Belgium Mist from Wallis, but it's professional grade only, it's not available in museum grade.

Thanks again.