.
 

.

Mark my dear friend. Please do not despair for all is not lost. This can be a wonderful peace of art if you do not stop now. I like what you have done thus far. There are but minor tweaks here and there and you will have a work you can be proud to showoff.
If you will allow me to suggest. My suggestion may seem drastic but if you will but think about it.

First, if you would paint over the eyebrow in the local hue to start with. Yes, no eyebrows for now. Than place a dead color over the eyes. Why? In order to reshape the entire area by giving it exact form and flow of tone. The eyes that you have drawn seem to small for the size of the head even though you are looking up. They need form or at least indication of form but first things first. So, I suggest you reform this part of the head. Below the eyes it looks to be ok.
The lips, ton down the edges or even ton down all the lips close to local hue and then reintroduce the hue that you wish but sparingly keeping in mind the flow of value and form that you wish to exaggerate.

As for the other comments they will not be a problem at all you

Hi Mark,
I was not sure of which direction you wanted to take this portrait, so I found it hard to come up with suggestions.
Now that you ask for any suggestions I will give it a try.

Paint what you see, the naturalistic light and colors. That makes it much easier to critic and talk about.

Also, the natural textures, like skin, hair and dress, have a familiar / known way of reacting to light and color. So if you want to make a stronger effect of anything, say light or a specific color, you will be able to exaggerate it in a convincing way with the help of the "normal" color scheme in the painting.
In other words you will benefit from having a low key standard. Indian Red and Yellow Ochre in stead of Cadmium Red and Yellow. I will suggest that you try a limited palette. You can still do the drawing in a heroic manner.

Just a thought,
Allan

Hello Mark,

Don't dispair. I was told by an established portrait artist when I first started to paint portraits that my first three paintings would not make it into my portfolio. He was right. Sometimes I can get to a point in a painting where it is better to take the canvas off and start fresh.

I read with interest your WIP but didn't offer any suggestions because you were hearing good advice from artists more qualified than I. Plus, I don't critique style.

My advice to you is to not give up. You show a strong sense of capability. You know that each painting will offer you different challenges and result in better understanding of the medium. I agree with the limited pallette.

One other thought. I saw how you drew in your painting. Very detailed. The details can get in the way of things at this stage.

My suggestion would be to forget the details and just draw in the largest shapes such as the light side, the shadow side, the eye sockets, the general shape of the mouth. Lay in those colors and values. Once you've laid in the canvas you can start to draw and paint in the smaller shapes and values.

Good luck and don't give up.

.

Keep at it. - But above all don

.

Mark, don't beat yourself up on this. Remember my mantra, "jeez, it's only paint!" I think you need to decide weather you want your work to be hard edge and dramatic, or softer and more naturalistic. The best way to do this is to try your next one as a WIP, using all the tips that people give you. Look up "edges", read the tips and technique section all the way through. When I started on this forum, I read every single post, 9:00am to 12:00pm was my study time. Then painted all afternoon and posted some pretty embarrasing stuff for critique. I'm still not comfortable with my "style" so to speak, but I'm miles ahead of where I would have been without all the work. Relax and enjoy the ride.

Jean

.

I'm jealous Mark! This is such a great step for you. Peggy is a wonderful teacher--I wish I could be there too.

Jean