My first in many years - in progress! - Page 4

Elizabeth Schott · 11-06-2002, 07:10 PM

Here is the detail of those @#%#% pants and her hands.

Lon,

In trying to lighten up her right hand, I am really struggling with the right colors. It keeps looking "dirty" to me in the shadow, especially trying to watch my edges with the pants.

Ah, the pants! I have not detailed any of the flower pattern on the pants, as I wanted to hear some opinions regarding them. I did add, sorry Mike, yet another flower to pull the eye back near her hip, hopefully taking some of the leg emphasis away.

Steven Sweeney · 11-06-2002, 08:39 PM

I hate to be the carny who puts the brakes on a thrilling roller coaster ride, but -- Whoa! Slow down! We're barreling along so quickly toward completion here, with so many advices from so many viewpoints, that everything's becoming a blur.

Beth, you've just said two things that impel me to buy another ticket to ride. You said that the arm may be wrong, but it's too late now to change it. NO, NO, NO! (And especially in oils.) If something's not right, STOP. Look again, critically and analytically, and figure out what you're going to do (not what you COULD do, what you're GOING to do) to get it right. You can spend two days (or two weeks, if necessary) getting something worked out now, or spend twenty years looking at the painting with regrets. Now -- when you describe this as your "first in many years" -- is NOT the time to race to a finish.

You also said that you'd put in an extra flower or two to draw the viewers' eyes away from the legs. I advise rethinking that strategy. If there's a problem with the legs, fix it. Don't employ visual tricks to distract the viewers' attention away from the problem. In the first place, it won't work -- indeed, it will likely actually highlight the "problem" area. And consider what's happening in that scenario anyway -- you're deliberately working to get the viewer to look at a background area. You should be deliberately working to get the viewer to look at the portrait subject, the focus of the picture, the girl.

With apologies for any dampening of spirit, I think nonetheless that you'll be much happier with the result, and learn more from this project, if you work out very deliberate choices and strategy in your own mind as you work, rather than seeking cues at every stage. There's nearly a surfeit of advices in this thread to consider, and yet paradoxically a number of issues haven't even been touched upon.

Slow down. Give yourself time to absorb and incubate the ideas and suggestions, and then employ them with method and considered deliberation.

Michael Georges · 11-06-2002, 09:07 PM

Beth: We are all here, cheering you on.

I have to agree with Steven. One thing Bill Whitaker did while I was with him was to spend 6 hours painting a headscarf and hair on his subject. He then spent about 6 hours another day repainting the whole thing because he felt he could improve it!

Everyone has their own take on things like this, and eventually you have to say "It's Done and that is good", but don't sell yourself short if you still can take time to improve it. My opinion only. I think you are doing a wonderful job.

One more bit of advice: I see long strokes down the length of the arms. Lay your paint down with the length of the form (arm, cheek, forehead, finger, etc.), but then stroke across the form as it will make it look rounder and blend your strokes better.

Elizabeth Schott · 11-06-2002, 09:44 PM

Thank you guys again! Believe it or not Steven, I am taking my time on this. Maybe for others it might not seem that way, but this is the only piece I am working on during the day. For economic reasons I am pretty quick with pastels, but have impressed myself with the time I am spending here, plus I am so excited by the medium that I am anxious to work excessively. I was really blown away to read that Karin spends 6 months on an oil, I am assuming that the glazing technique takes much time. Michael, I'll have to bring a gag with me to Scottsdale if Bill spends 12 hours on hair with a scarf! I will be sent to the corner.

Quote:

...but I am afraid I am too far along to fix that. Maybe this is not true in oils.

That was my question, on if I had gone too far to correct the arm in oil? In pastel, it would have to be redone from the start, but here I can fix it? I see the problem is really with the shoulder, then I beefed up the arm, mainly trying to handle the edge at first.

When I receive critiques, I like to print out the responses and look at my canvas with all the various input. Some things I may not use, because it is my work style, others have been a major learning, so I don

Elizabeth Schott · 11-13-2002, 08:29 PM

I was hoping someone would be able to give me some input regarding the hands. I have lightened them as compared to the reference photo, but am not sure if I have the color correct. If anyone could, please let me know if you think I am off or in the right direction, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!