The Baroness
 

This is finally a 30"X30".
Thanks again to my "team" who helped me in the WIP.

Marina, this is absolutely fabulous in many respects. I know you are quite pleased with it and you should be. You have worked hard not only physically but a lot of thought and concentration went into this painting. What impresses me the most and am quite pleased to see is the clean hue transitions. You have done what you knew that you can do. Congratulations, a job well done!

Regards,
mischa

Marina,
I have enjoyed to follow this portrait in the WIP section.
You have really turned it into a masterpiece, one that your sitter will be proud of. :thumbsup:

Allan

Hi Marina,

This came out beautifully. I'm so impressed with your artistic vision and the way you carried it out.

Reading and participating in your WIP was a treat because it is so interesting to me to see how other artists think things through. Each painting progresses differently and has its own set of problems to be worked out. Anyway, thank you so much for being open to all our suggestions and showing us this glimpse of your process.

Alex

Mischa,
thank you for beeing so supportive !

Allan,
When I joined this forum and discovered the WIP section, I thought that I should try: well, in the beginning I was a little stressed, but it became like a game, and I had much more fun than if I painted this alone in my studio...
So, should I regard it as finished this time? ;)

Alex,
I'm glad that you liked the WIP as much as I did. It was a very good experience, and as an extra gift, I learned a lot.
I'm impressed to impress a talented painter like you.

Formidable!

Marina, a beautiful first unveiling.

Beautiful, Marina. I too enjoyd watching this develop. And really like how you finished the hands, glass and table with reflections. Perfect!!

This came out beautiful - congratulations.

Marina-- Beautifully done! I also really enjoyed watching this progress over in WIP.

Merci Sharon !
you helped me taking some decisions for this portrait, and also to have a reflection about what priorities should I consider about my carreer...

Pat, Kim, Terri : thank you !

Tres bien!

When I started out there was no internet, I could not find much on painting portraits, so I traced photos , matched the color etc.

Fortunately I live near the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. I saw the Sargents, the Copleys, the Stuarts and the Gainsboroughs to name a few. I knew my dull renderings had nothing in common with them.

Fortunately I had had a lot of figure drawing, so I hired models , went to portrait demonstrations and taught myself sight size painting. I have never regretted it. It I think has helped so much with skin-tones especially, the photo reference is so unreliable. As a matter of fact in my own work I rely on models almost exclusively.

With portrait painting and portrait artists becoming so ubiquitous, I think it is important somehow to distinguish yourself with as much craft and knowledge as you can.