Portrait - the next step...

You may notice that I bounce around a bit from subject to subject. I thought this blog would have been about the other paintings and small things that I do while traveling or in preparation to do a much larger painting instead of the portraits. However, I have heard from some of my students and artist friends. They would be much more interested in the day to day workings of the studio. So I am moving in that direction. Friday was a paper day...accounting, calendars, updates, printing, filing, etc. Some painting took place and I am now just getting it out to show you. Here is the portrait of my lovely client from Singapore. The next step was to add darks and define planes a bit more. Notice that I do have some lights in the painting at this stage. As I am moving in and out of a residental location to do this painting, I use the light notes to help me reposition her. The background will help me determine better values on skin, hair, clothing as I proceed. It still is a little harsh looking with large brushstrokes and big broken patterns which are perhaps seen better close up. But here we are...