Dear Marina and Chris,
Thank you both!
Marina, her mom was very excited when she saw the painting and couldn't believe how I captured her eyes. I always feel so relieved when I see a grinning face and get a bear hug!
Chris, I am using Micheal Hardings colors, mainly Flake White #2 and Ivory Black. From that I have mixed my own tubes of grays. I love the Flake White, which is more translucent and not as chalky as Titanium White.
With the small canvas size, there is really little room to get creative, but I wanted something that balances all the light gray tones of the face against all the dark hair and outfit. I asked Sera to send me a photo of herself before the photo shoot, so I could see what she looked like. After some preliminary rough sketches I figure out how I wanted to balance the painting. From then on it was simple, I just posed her in different locations during the photo shoot and clicked away until I had the right shot. I am happy to hear that you like the composition, coming from you that means a lot to me!
