Very well said, Chris! And it's made that much more valid, as you are one of the most masterful direct painters I know.
But, I should mention that if you, Alexandra, or Claudemir - who said some very nice things about this one - had gone on to say something like, "..Watch that hard edge on the lip," or, "..Perhaps next time, shift over a little to avoid a tangential edge between nose and cheek profile," I would have agreed wholeheartedly. I think, if one is to critique - or more accurately - "Monday morning quarterback" an open studio piece, it relates more to what one can do in the
next painting to firm up one's approach.
Some of you probably know my disdain for tangential lines or edges. Just so I don't look like a hypocrite here: When I ended up correcting some drawing/likeness issues in latter stages of the painting, I ended up with a rather snug edge between her nose and right cheek. I pulled out all the edge trickery I could to get rid of any weirdness. Note the cool reflected light on the cheek vs. the sharpened warm edge plane of the nose. The edge plane of the cheek is so soft, it's almost part of her hair. It works, but it should have been avoided. I painted myself into this situation because that section of the intitial lay-in was not clear enough to see that future problems lay ahead.
So, then... next time's a charm!!!
