Please Critique Rosa in a pink dress

This is Rosa, 14" x 11", on canvas. I would love a critique.

I am very nearly fed up with myself, and so I haven't painted in a few weeks. I've been working on drawings and values for that time. After reading a lot of different things, I decided to do something different. I did the whole underpainting in burnt umber. For the final painting I glazed the shadows more or less (I had trouble controlling the value and it got way too dark so I added some white). The lights were painted opaquely with a good deal more paint.

This was a limited palette of burnt umber, raw umber, venetian red, yellow ochre, black and white. I thought maybe my problem was that I had way too complex a palette and really couldn't control the thing, so I want to simplify and see if that works.

A larger image is at http://www.gloriadesign.com/rosapinkdress.html

Long story short, please help.

Thanks
Lisa

[Jeff Fuchs]

This is a nice portrait. It has a good feel to it, and I always like to see limited palette paintings that do a lot with a few colors.

It would help if you posted a larger image, but I'll tell you what I see. I see a problem with her ears. First, they don't match. They are two different shapes entirely. Second, the ear in shadow seems to have more definition and detail than the lighted one. Shadows steal detail, so you could have gotten away with a mere suggestion of an ear on the shadow side. Not just "get away" with it, but enhance your painting by using less detail.

That's about all I have to say, but I'd like to see a larger image. Overall, it's a very pleasing piece.

Edit: I just re-read your post and saw your link to the larger image. Thanks. I must have rushed through it the first time.

Thanks Jeff, that was very astute. I fixed it and updated the image on my site at http://www.gloriadesign.com/rosapinkdress.html

I'm also thinking I might cool down the value of her nostrils, and intensify the ochre color of her eye in light. She has very glowy hazel eyes. The last time I painted her I artificially "warmed" her skin which is unusually cool and opaque for such a fair person. This time is more true to life.

Thanks
Lisa

[Steven Sweeney]

Lisa,

I think there

Thank you so much Steven. There's a lot here that I can still work on while it's wet and I appreciate your thorough response.

I should note that the several weeks I've taken to draw were after the underpainting was done on this, or I would hopefully have made fewer errors. Your observations are extemely helpful.

Lisa

[Linda Brandon]

Hi Lisa,

It sounds to me like you're trying Scott Bartner's method of starting a painting. I think it's hard to go from an alla prima working technique to an underpainting method, so don't get too hard on yourself at the beginning. There's a seismic mental shift that has to happen somewhere along that pesky eye/brain conduit. It also involves the artist's eternal question, "do you pick your style, or does your style pick YOU?"

I do like this painting, though, and I like the subtle color shifts and facial expression.

Hi Linda,

Well, the alla prima method was newish to me, and I think I've just set it aside for now and gone back to underpainting, though this kind is a little different. I like the way underpaintings look, and am often tempted to just leave it and not finish.

I think you're right about the mental shift and maybe that explains why alla prima was not for me. I like paintings with a high degree of finish, and think that will probably be my direction. The subtleties of shadows are currently beyond me.

Scott Bartner? His method is a little different that what I was attempting - I was trying to channel Marvin. Unfortunately I don't think you can channel someone who's currently using their own spirit.

Lisa

[Marvin Mattelson]

Lisa,

I've got more than enough spirit to go around. So channel away! Just repeat the mantra as you paint, "the head is a ball, the head is a ball."

Actually I've had many students tell me that they hear my voice commenting to them as they paint. And I just thought it was me hearing voices.

[Jeanine Jackson]

Uuuummmm.
It's true. We hear Marvin's voice long after the lessons!
This is a lovely painting and an informative thread.