Tom, Oil on Canvas Panel, 20" x 16"

[Steven Sweeney]

Gosh, an uphill battle on flatlands. I thought only we flyover lands and mountain artists had those kinds of battles.

I don't see much evidence here, or in your web page portraits, of "beginner" status. You seem to be aware of and in pretty good command of drawing, hue, value, temperature, contrast and edges. That's not a bad supply of skills.

I do wonder what's going on with his right ear, and why his shoulders are of such markedly different heights.

Very fresh and spontaneous looking and at the same time exact and resolved where needed (for example, the glasses).

[Steven Sweeney]

I can

[Steven Sweeney]

Squinting is indeed an "eye opener".

You're learning all the secrets early on.

[Timothy C. Tyler]

I'd suggest some attention to edges and temperatures. The brushwork is brave and interesting but along the collar you might need some soft edges. It's only upper level stuff you need now.

[Catherine Muhly]

Hi Deladier,

I think you've painted a fresh and lively portrait, and I am looking forward to seeing more paintings.

My only concern is that the proportions of the head are slightly off. Generally speaking, if you measure from the top of the head to the the tops of the lower eyelids, that is 1/2 the length of the head. Meaning that from the tops of the lower eyelids to the bottom of the chin is the other half. Measuring your portrait, I found that the bottom half, if it was to be the same as the top half, ended at the ball of the chin, not at the bottom of the chin.

Naturally, there is variation among individuals, but departure from the abstract norm is not quite as significant as I found in your painting. Learning to measure proportions and to draw correctly has been for me, and continues to be, the first-ranked task for mastering the craft of portraiture.

[Mai Ly]

I really like your strokes in this painting. They are full of energy. The only things that stick out to me are the anatomy of the ears, and the shoulders are a bit off, but I think someone here has mentioned that already.

I would never know that you are a beginner looking at your painting.

Mai

[Deladier Almeida]

Steve, I didn't mean to sound disingenuous when I called myself a beginner. I AM a beginner since I painted my first portrait less than a year ago. That's when I decided that painting is what I should have been doing all along. Now I'm trying to catch up.

I noticed the shoulder inconsistency but I felt that it played a role in calculated imbalance. Since you pointed it out, however, I feel I must reevaluate that decision.

By the way, why don't I see any entries in the Member Portrait from Life section? Thank you for your reply.

[Deladier Almeida]

I've been training in my garage since November 2001, after I stumbled into a book by Sanden. I started by trying to follow his color recipes and have been studying the language of portrait painting since.

[Deladier Almeida]

Peter,

Thank you for the challenging comments. Interesting to me is your suggestion to spend an hour looking at the Rembrandt. I did exactly that. And at the Met. And at the Norton Simon. Steal from the rich is my motto.

I have thrown away that book, so to speak. I am thankful to Mr. Sanden because his book was an invitation that I am glad I accepted. Beyond that, the path to developing one's own language is a lonely one (with the exception of the occasional Rembrandt pilfering, of course).

My hope is that the lack of concentration to which you refer is really lack of experience in my part. I am tentative because I cannot yet visualize the finished effect before I start. There is so much to be aware of and I am running in the dark. Steal from the rich.

[Deladier Almeida]

Hello, people. This is my first attempt at an alla prima portrait. It was done in three live sessions lasting a total of 5.5 hours. Thank you for the opportunity. This is my first time here.