November 18, 2014

Portrait of Susan II

So, as I'd mentioned in my previous post I've been working on this piece for several nights. It's still a work in progress and it's been a bit of a struggle given that I only have a few hours a night to devote to it. It's mainly an issue because I prefer to keep the paint as wet as possible and because of my limited time some areas will dry faster than is ideal for me. The pattern for the dress, for example, was quite the challenge. Maintaing some sense of form under her skirt with all those shapes, as well as the concern that it's busyness might detract from the focal point were considerations that took a lot of concentration to overcome. I hope it worked. Overall it was at times either tortuous or hugely pleasurable to do.
Anyway, even though there are some areas that will require some massaging I thought I'd go ahead and post it anyway since this is for sure the most total time I've spent on a painting since I've started up this blog. I will post an update later after I've added my adjustments.

Oh, also in this particular shot you can hardly make out anything in the background. It's not 100% black. In person there are folds of drapery that can be seen but the camera it seems just can't quite pick them up.


Susan
Oil on Canvas - 18 x 24

2 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, this is so beautiful. I can see the folds of fabric in the background and the form under the skirt. The fabric, the chair, her hands (I love hands), are so beautiful. If your plans are to improve this, then you've got a challenge before you. I can't wait to see what you do with it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the nice comments Mary. Any changes I make will be subtle ones that mainly make a difference to my picky eye, but I think will have an overall impact for the viewer, even if it's not consciously noticed.

    ReplyDelete