Self-portrait in turban
 

Hi,

this is my first self-portrait after long time (oh, where did my youth go ;-)) Oil on 12x16 canvas. There are some areas in a jacket that need to be retouched with varnish. Is the yellow background too distracting? Is the part of the face in shadow too dark? I was going for a dramatic effect, hence the light coming from the side, accentuating the form, but maybe I've overdone it?

Thanks,

Nice work! I like the interesting turban and the modeling of the face.

I think the background isn't receding enough, and is fighting for attention with the face because of the bright color. Maybe you could lose some of its intensity?

Being the amateur that I am, I cannot critique your painting, but, I have to say that I found it very striking and beautifully executed! Losing some of the intensity in the background as Julie suggested, can only help an already excellent portrait.

Nice work. You seem to like Leffel's style.

This is a beautiful portrait. I love the way you have successfully painted the transparency of the glasses - for me always a difficult challenge.

I would agree that it need some cooler notes. Also the area (fringe or hair) to the right of the picture needs some attention. At present this looks like a bony hand to me. You might want to vary the size of the spaces between the strands or something.