Maria Elena
 

Maria is an 18x14 oil on canvas.
I used 4 different types of oil with this

Hi Garth,

A very fascinating composition with all the different structures held together in a limited color scheme.

I think that the values in the face are too pale. Maybe it

Allan,
Thanks again for your critique.
The color saturation seems to be dull so I replaced the original. The light is fairly well defused in the reference (overcast). There

Much better. Very smart with the link, I almost felt that I was in front of the painting.

I think that you can make the light more realistic on the face by adjusting the values according to the facts that reflected light will always be lower than the direct light from the light source.

I still think that the light on the lower parts of the face is to high in value.

You could make the adjustments a combination of heightening the light on the parts that are lit from above and lovering the values in the shade, maybe with some Green Earth glazing.

Maybe also blur the details in the shadow areas a bit, at the mouth especially.

Allan

Another enjoyable learning experience. This was my reference.
Jerome

Jerome,

I really like this portrait - it has suchan original composition, and a very intimate feeling.

The only thing I might add to Allan's excellent comments is to turn the tip of the nose a litlle bit. I can see that the light is very diffuse, ans fairly uniform, as there's a lot of reflected ligth from the sweater. I think that if you add a tiny area of slightly darker, slightly warmer skin tone across the tip of the nose, it will help to turn the nose under, and differentiate the upward and downward facing planes of the nose.

Nice job!

Very nice - your best one yet, in my opinion! I particularly like the hands.

The only thing I'd suggest is to carefully check the shapes of the mouth. Her expression in the painting looks much more unhappy than in the reference.

Part of that has to do with the fact that the vertical indentation that comes down from beside the nose is too dark and too long, but mostly it has to do with the very precise forms of the lips. It's a subtle but critical thing. I've repainted mouths five times or more to get just the right expression.

Chris,
Thank you for your prospective. The nose has bothered me and has been re-done more than once. I

Hello Garth,
In case you are still working on this beautiful portrait I would like to add some thoughts about the reference.

The reason why the lower face is so light, and almost the same value as the cheeks and forehead, is that the sleeves are reflecting the light into the face.

But if you look at the sleeves they are all burned out, overexposed. If the light measuring had been right on them, then the reflections into the face would have been much lower in the area from the tip of the nose and down.

I will add your reference in a separated gray scale to prove my point.

Best Allan