Mayor
 

This 20 x 24 is of the Mayor of Eunice. Please critique.

Thanks,
Mark

I am learning to stay away from Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber as much as possible in oils. I use other colors instead, like Alizerin Crimson, yellow ocher, Van Dyke Brown, and others, in order to prevent the earthy, dirty look to the skin.

When I have a large area of clothing that is the same color, like the coat, I try to incorporate as many other colors as I can to add interest. Here, perhaps toning down the blue in the shadowed areas, rather than only adding a brighter (tho darker) blue, would work. Darker is not enough when it comes to shadow. It has to be more nuetral, too. The blue is just overpowering. See the post on primary colors under the "Painter's Palette". There are some fine examples of how to handle blue there.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks Lon for the advice. I plan to study the grisaille method for skin tones. I ordered the book, "How to Paint Like the Old Masters" by Joseph Shepard. Karin Wells uses this method and her paintings are beautiful. Thanks again, Lon.