Hand update
 

I'll finish tomorrow. I'm sure. Yeah, tomorrow I'll finish it. Tomorrow for sure. Really.

Much better color now on those two fingers of the hand on our left!

Finished hands
 

You are right, Michele. Thank you for pointing out the temperature problem. It was hard to paint the fingers. I had never painted fingers before and had no idea what I was getting into. I'll pay more attention to how much finger to show next time I set a pose...that much I'll remember. I'll leave the hands as they are. I just need to restate the edges and finish the book and its background.

I would appreciate any comments - particularly regarding method. I don't have an approach, so to speak, so I go about it haphazardly as you can see by looking at my sequence of steps. I believe that if I had a clearer idea of how to execute the whole thing from the start, this painting would have happened more quickly and better.

The image is rotated to maximize size of hands.

The result is gorgeous. I wouldn't worry about how you got there.

Invite
 

Someone e-mailed me and suggested I read this and try to offer something helpful. This is very good work and the small things are all anyone can suggest at this point and for work of this level.

As to the hands, I'd suggest you try to find ways to use an occasional large brushstroke to simplify-more variety. Also more edge variety. I see few real hard edges (good) and yet no real lost edges in the hand for example. Try to add some (several) lost, soft edges and one or two well placed hard edges. Artists working from life will look for the hardest edge and the softest edge initially.

As to overall method, the results justify the method and this is good work. Method can become habit and then one's work can become stale. I detect no need for that, maybe you can explain.

Cecilia Beaux was as good as anybody at the above suggestions as was Bettina Steinke.

Okay
 

I looked again and did see some soft edges like on the shirt edge. This is good. Now think about how the lines behind the hands intersect with the stuff in front. The intersections must be soft too. The stuff in front gets right of way. Blur and soften the stuff behind it to help the hands come forth. Shadow colors: the cast shadows from the hands need to be more carefully defined, I feel, and different color than the fingers. Warm light, cool shadows. The warm/cool thing would help you too.

Lastly
 

Two more things, see the bright edge of the book between the fingers? This must be painted softer. Also the bright light on the meat of the thumb should be soft and glow into the dark behind it. I really would paint those both wet into wet.

Thank you for your comments, Tim. They are right on the mark, as always. Here is my reason for bringing up the issue of methodology - I have been painting for a year now and I am going about it without any formal instruction. I am serious enough about it to have decided to dedicate all of my time to learning the craft and art of painting.

My hope was that, by showing this painting from beginning to conclusion, the experienced professionals of the forum who are available and willing to share their knowledge might be able to spot problems in my approach and make suggestions in that regard.

As you correctly pointed out, method that becomes a habit is a liability. My aim is to distill a method in order to become a better craftsman and not a better painter. For that, I don't yet know what I need.

If you want to distill a method in order to become a better craftsman, all you need is practice. Not necessarily to perfect your results (which are already terrific) but to develop a systematic approach, if that's what you want. The more paintings you do the more you will find a sequence of doing things that works for you. But, as Tim pointed out, too much of a "system" can kill freshness, so don't worry about that aspect of it too much.

I am amazed that you paint so well after only doing this for a year and without any formal instruction. You truly have a gift!

One year!
 

I am reminded of what H James said of Sargent when he was very young, "He has an insolent degree of talent".

Your work will begin to flow and take on a look all its own with "miles of canvas" being put behind you. It is not unlike the signature you slap down on checks everyday. It changes with time and becomes your own through repeated execution.

The questions you seek are not easy to answer, due to the high degree of your talent. Few books are written on the small things that just a few persons ever come to want to know. I played some baseball in my youth and there were no books that told you how to adjust your swing for an expected curveball coming from a left-handed pitcher (likely low and away). These questions did not concern a critical mass (at least not enough baseball players to justify the publishers.)