Self-portrait in turban

[Urszula Andrejczuk]

Hi,

this is my first self-portrait after long time (oh, where did my youth go ;-)) Oil on 12x16 canvas. There are some areas in a jacket that need to be retouched with varnish. Is the yellow background too distracting? Is the part of the face in shadow too dark? I was going for a dramatic effect, hence the light coming from the side, accentuating the form, but maybe I've overdone it?

Thanks,

[Julie Deane]

Nice work! I like the interesting turban and the modeling of the face.

I think the background isn't receding enough, and is fighting for attention with the face because of the bright color. Maybe you could lose some of its intensity?

[Bob Botha]

Being the amateur that I am, I cannot critique your painting, but, I have to say that I found it very striking and beautifully executed! Losing some of the intensity in the background as Julie suggested, can only help an already excellent portrait.

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Nice work. You seem to like Leffel's style.

[Mary Cupp]

This is a beautiful portrait. I love the way you have successfully painted the transparency of the glasses - for me always a difficult challenge.

I would agree that it need some cooler notes. Also the area (fringe or hair) to the right of the picture needs some attention. At present this looks like a bony hand to me. You might want to vary the size of the spaces between the strands or something.