Early progress for critique (Finished!)
 

I've started a piece I promised Mother I would do. She is my biggest fan and the one who placed me in training at the age of 10. She is also that 1940's knock-out I posted earlier. Anyway, Mom is facing the challenge of her life right now, so I'm pressed to make some good progress.

This is the underpainting with just a little color thrown in because I'm impatient. (Sorry.) But everything is wet and moveable. Can anyone please take a look and see where I'm off. I think the right (our left) eye is angled wrong. I'm still playing with the lips, but I'm having trouble "seeing" them.

P.S. Now that I've got it up here, I see that he is a little too short. Where is it?

The original photo
 

for comparison. It's the only one I've got that seemed even remotely suitable.

With the look on his face you may want to try to include your Mom somehow, as well as the corsage! It may help to make the complexion more ruddy or add a little burnt sienna to the forehead and the area in front of the ear.

Hi ReNae,

Double check the forehead (our left side, when compared to the adjacent negative space in the original, the forehead needs to come up more and with a lesser angle.

I love the way you did his pupils. You successfully opened the gateway to his soul. I sense kindness and clarity.

Your coloring will need some work, but I leave that for others to comment on.

Progress update
 

OK, I've piddled with this one some more as an anti-stress work. As some of you know, Mom is now very ill.

Thank you for your comments to date. I'm still working on the likeness and really would like your input. (A.k.a. help.)

By the way, that's not Mom, that's step mom so no, she won't be in the picture. Dad has passed since, so I'm working from this photo and memory only.

I've got some glare on the photo. Please try to see past that.

ReNae--

Can't totally comment on accuracy since I can't get them both side by side, but the only thing I saw in the underpainting that stuck out was the proportion of the forehead. Things migrate as we paint, and the hairline has a tendency to slip upward. Seems you addressed it in the second version though.

I know you're trying to overcome the bleaching of the face by the flash, but be careful that you don't overwarm your lights. In the second version, I see warm shadows and warm lights, and most of the time, unless the lighting is very unusual, you will have warm lights/cool shadows or cool lights/warm shadows. Richard Schmid says this is the only absolutely true color rule, and I've found this to be pretty reliable. Remember, cool is a relative term. A cool shadow could still be red, but would be more alizarin and less sienna, for instance--doesn't mean it has to be green or blue.

Apart from that, be relentless with your values, and keep 'em simple. Also, I think that your value progression could be simpler in the coat--it's a little patchy now. A flash will always exaggerate contrast and contribute to this.

Also, to your question, the mouth has the right feel, but try slightly lightening the value of the upper lip, and making the (our) right end of it ever so slightly thinner. I usually put the upper lip in too dark and almost always have to lighten it up, which inevitably gives it a less pasted-on feel.

But overall, it's shaping up well.

I'll hold you all in the Light (as we Quakers say).

Where is it
 

Tom,

Thank you for your comments.

I've looked and looked at this, perhaps too much, and although I can see the indication of his jaw bone, I haven't been able to reproduce what I see. What do I see anyway? It's so subtle and so hard to see in a photo. Can anyone elaborate?

ReNae--

Look at the vertical break between the lights on the front of his face and the plane that's the side of his face--the inch or so just in front of his ear. It's a vertical plumb line from the frontmost hair at the temple downward--between the ear and about a half inch back from the eye socket. Farther down, where it meets the neck, is the corner of his jaw.

Usually when there's a break in the light that washes across the forms (in this case from left to right) that's as pronounced as this, it indicates something hard under the skin, i.e. bone, instead of something soft, i.e. fat or muscle. In that instance, there would be a more gradual gradation of the light, unlike here.

Unfortunately, the flash is washing some of this out.

In the photo, it's also a break between cool lights and warm halftones, and probably should be painted as such, though the photo is making this color shift harsher than it actually is.

Do you see what I'm talking about?

Seeing
 

Tom,

Yes, I see it now. You're right, the flash has washed out that which I "know" is there.

We are going to have a rainy Florida weekend, so I will spend some early morning time bringing out the turn on the side of his face and at the jaw line. I will also cool down the lights a bit. The photo has warmed them up here, but they could still use lots of work.

Thank you very much for your input.

I loved being "held in the light", too -- what a wonderful feeling. :)

ReNae, this is an excellent likeness and I like the texture on his face. The main thing that strikes me, aside from the others' comments, is his cheekbone on our left. You have it jutting out more prominently than it is in the reference photo; your photo shows a smoother, less diagonal (left downward to right) line from that cheekbone to the chin, and in part that's because the cheekbone doesn't come out as far to the left on the photo as you've painted it. To make it all work, I think his supraorbital ridge and the visible edge of his right eye (our left) might also need to come in toward the left just a bit.

His eyes are a little more hooded in the photo, which gives him a more relaxed look there. And the fold of his cheek from the bottom of his nostril to the plane of the mouth, on our right, should end further to the right before it curves back toward the mouth, to give more of a smiling effect. These are all very minor details, though, of the sort that I imagine every artist works over as a piece progresses, and on the whole it's very good. Take care!

Today
 

Leslie,

Yes, I see what you mean. Funny, once I've posted an image, I can see it afresh. I've also taken some advice here and started keeping a mirror that I can use to look at the image over my shoulder. What a useful tool.

I've darkend the shadow in his left (our right) cheek, cooled off the lights a bit, as Tom suggested, although all of the color needs a bit of work, I think I'm getting there. I've attempted to remold his right cheek and eye socket. Looks to me like I've still got a problem, as his forehead is not modeled right. I've got to work on those values a bit to bring the shape in line.

Before I go any further on his suit, any comments on the carnation arragement? In or Out? I'm pretty sure I can pull it off, but do you think I need it? Seems like it would give me a nice circular movement. Maybe I'll tape one on for a dry run.

ReNae, that really makes a difference. The skin tones look better, too. A few more details: I think you've still got his chin a bit too long and sharp and I also think his upper lip should be slightly higher on our right. And the bulb of his nose should be slightly larger and extend to our left. You might be happier with the line of his forehead if you extended the hair a tad to the left, too, and moved the hairline down a very little bit. Again, these are all very subtle; it's basically a great likeness.

What helps me most when struggling with the refining of a likeness is to cover up the area that I think is giving me a problem and seeing whether that makes a difference. Sometimes it turns out that it's not that area that's off after all.

I'll leave the carnation question for others. Personally I wouldn't include them, though.

Nice work, ReNae.

ReNae,

I'd probably leave 'em out, especially with this close of a crop. I personally favor portraits that are more "everyday" and timeless, rather than Christmas, birthdays, etc., where the details of the occasion steal from the simplicity and power of the face. It's a subtle characterization here, let it have its due.

Lots of small improvements have made a big difference. Nice job!

Can't Wait To Start
 

Leslie and Tom,

Thank you so much for the help thus far. I'll be making the changes you suggested, Leslie. As always, your observations look to be right on.

Also, no carnation. I think I'll really bring out the sheen and detail in his tie, and that will give me the flow I'm looking for.

I won't have a change to update for several days. In the meantime, take care and thanks again.

I think I'm finished
 

Well. I think I'm finished. But not before I hear from you this forum. I've changed the suit to gray. I like thw "Wall Presence"" better. The photo is a little dark. I've got a new halogen spot the hang over my easel. It helps a great deal when working at night.

Anyway enough of my nervous chatter. Here goes.

That looks really good, ReNae. Thanks for letting us see how you finished it.
Leslie

Here is a lighter image
 

Patience is not my virtue. I have now taken a better shot in the daylight. I hope you can see this one. I'm thinking that the color of the tie takes awy from his eyes? Any comments?

Nice job, ReNae.


Simple, dignified. I like where you ended up.

Dear ReNae,
I've been following your progress avidly because I've recently lost someone who went his whole life without a really good, usable, paintable photo reference. (This is partially because he refused to be photographed.) I've painted many posthumous portraits. It's amazing how many people leave this world without leaving us good resource photos. You had a difficult task in making this painting come alive and you performed it very well. I admire your work, your tenacity in this piece, and your clear love of your Mother.
Best regards, Linda

So gratefull
 

Dear Leslie, Tom and Linda,

I can't thank you enough for your kind words and encouragement with this piece.

You've all known, without my having to spell it out, just how much it means to me. Thank you again.

Linda, your right, all too often, we shy from the camera, not realizing how much those photos will mean to loved ones. The poor photo was just a reference for a face that I knew, inside and out.

I'm feeling a little emotional, so please forgive me, for sayng I pulled this painting out of a deeply passionate place. I can't really explain it, but I think it has changed the way I will look at future projects. I am both worn out and high at the same time.

It won't be just painting "stuff" any more.

Thanks for this, but you did all of the heavy lifting. Your comments touched me and made me think of the following by Andrew Wyeth:

"...I've been painting like fury now for forty years...I have a feeling. You paint about as far as your emotions go, and that's about it."

Peace to you all--TE

Lovely, meaningful piece.

Last year I shot some extensive reference photos of my parents. I don't know when I'll paint from them but, no matter what happens to my folks (they're in their 70's) I'll have those reference photos.

Cool background
 

This is a loving tribute!

Sorry, I have come in late to this thread. The main thing that I noticed from the beginning is how the warm backgound competes with the face for attention. If the suit were a more chromatic blue, I think you could grey down the background succesfully. I would also like to see an area of lost edges around the hair on our right.

Perhaps a go at these ideas in Photoshop would help visualize before going back into this lovely portrait?

Sorry to disagree with Jeanine, but I like the warm background. I think it brings out his blue eyes by contrast.

Fine tuning
 

Michelle,

Thank you, I too think the background is a plus, I am however putting back a little of the hair detail on our right, I lost some of the gray, and the lost edge, got found for awhile, I'll post the repairs when I can.

Comment retracted....didn't see the beautiful finished product at the end of the thread.