Unexpected update

I feel a bit silly because my shadow is in the photo. But I was painting on the floor today, which I don't usually do, and I just am not used to taking photos from that angle. Also when I was cleaning up I only took one photo rather than several, I had hastily decided that one photo was enough. That's what I get for being in a hurry. The lips still need more work and so does the area around them. They need a bit more pink and red in the lips themselves but I'll have to wait for the paint to dry. I keep trying to put more color over it but it just turns out purple still. I've got to add more highlights to the hair and work on the ear more, but I'm happy with the start of that.

I was making chocolates today and was really happy with a few photos that I took so I just wanted to put them up here. I may not be so serious about photography anymore, but I still enjoy it.

A bit of a break

I've taken a small break from my painting. My palette dried out again and now I need to soak it and scrub it clean. It was advertised as "easy clean" well not so much. It didn't stain like my last one, I've scrubbed off some of it. I got a recommendation of clove oil from WetCanvas. Apparently a small amount of clove oil in with the palette seal will keep the paint from drying out a bit longer. The trick is just finding some. I've checked in a few stores but I'll have to wait till I go shopping this weekend to pick some up.
Also I haven't been painting but I have been doing something art related. I've been reading about Caravaggio. Since my Art History 102 class I've been interested in learning more about the Baroque period of art and some of the artists before, during and after that period. I was inspired by Caravaggio's use of light when I did "Angelic." I can relate to the lack of preparatory sketching. Also that being faithful to realism. I really strive for realism, though I don't think I've quite achieved that to a perfection. Of course I'm a perfectionist. I'm just now learning to accept the style that I have. I have two more books from the library that I hope to read in the next few weeks on Titian and Velazquez. I think when I go back I'll look for a book on symbolism I think that might be interesting as well.

Progress

I'm learning not look for a finished product in any part of this, just to look for a right direction. Nothing is perfect or exactly where I want it to be but this is ok. I can go back in and fix it after I get a bit more filled in and know what exactly is wrong and how to fix it. I also experimented a bit with the background in an attempt to clear some remaining paint off my palette. Which I spent a good bit of time tonight just trying to clean half off. (Easy clean, it is not.) So I didn't get a lot done tonight. Also I got a bit too much water in the paint for the lips and I need that to dry. I started to move into the hand a little. That will be fun. I'm not sure how I feel about the background either. I think I'm going to let it sit and see how I feel about it. If I hate it I'll just follow the reference photo and add the fence and trees. I think I might try to lay in some more of the hands tomorrow with the remaining flesh tone that I have mixed and see how that works out. I'd like to clean off my whole palette but I don't want to waste that last bit of flesh tone, I have some of the reds and orange left but those as well as the flesh tone are drying out quickly now. I'm working on a solution to keep my paints from drying out so quickly, past a few days and I start getting a film. I'd like to extend that time a bit.

A little progress

This whole painting is just nerve wracking to me now. I worry so much about everything that I add to it. Before I was completely happy with the right side of the face, now I'm happy with the left side and I think the right needs work, also I think I'm a little off on the placement of the lips. I need to work on the area around the right nostril but I'm really starting to like the shadows on the left side. I started trying to lay in a bit of the hair and I'm worried I might need an even smaller brush. Right now I'm working with two brushes, 1/8" flat and #4 round. I've mostly been using the 1/8" flat brush recently. Also I think the eyebrow is too dark but I want to come back in with some lighter colors when that layer dries. I've been working in thin layers that have been dry or just about dry. The heat in the room I store it in might also help that drying time. Tomorrow I'll try to work on the nose and the right side of the face more, and maybe get some more work done on the lips. I might be heading into the fingers or more of the hair in the next few days.

Progress

I've made a bit of progress on the painting. I think the right highlight is a bit off. I'll just fix that a little tomorrow. Other than that I thinkit's looking better, though now I also think the right nostril is off, but now the left one looks right. I'll just have to work on that side of the face a little more. I'm pretty happy with my progress and I like the left side of the upper lip. Just some more fixes tomorrow.

Some progress

I didn't do any color adjustments on the photo tonight, just adjusted the levels. There are a quite a few things that I'm not happy with and feel that I need to fix. Though when I first took the photo off the camera it was oriented horizontally and I have to say I really like it that way. I don't know why maybe it's just looking at it from a different angle. I'm going to work on this more tomorrow. At some point I'll figure out these darker shades and get comfortable with those colors. I need to push the darks but I just can't find a shade that looks right.

Some progress from last night

Despite writing now I did take the photo last night. I'm thinking maybe the nose looks a little lopsided. Either the left side is too low or the right is too high. I'm leaning more toward the left being too low. The dark line under the nose should not be there in the finished piece it's just reference right now. I'm feeling a bit better about the nose, a few more tweaks and it should be about right or at least as good as it's going to get. I think I'll completely finish the face then work on the hair. Though maybe I should work on some of the background before I do the hair. I'm still not sure what I'm doing with the background. I though I'd either use the fence or incorporate a pattern from an old Thai painting but nothing really struck me. I don't think I really want just a plain colored background though. I should be working on this tonight. I'm trying to get back into the groove of working everyday on something at least a little. I've really been enjoying painting and I'm really happy with the skin tone, despite not being perfect it's much better than most of my older work from high school.

Some progress, after a bit of a break

I've made some progress on the painting. I still have a lot to fix but my knee started to hurt so I felt it was time to stop. Most of what I need to fix is on the left side of the face. This photo really doesn't look as much like the painting as I would have hoped. I think the right side of the face looks better in real life, maybe it's the reflective areas in the photo or something that make it looks odd. I need to push the dark though in some areas, I'm just having a hard time getting the right colors. I think I may need one more tube of paint, a darker brown. I may just finish this fine without it though. I did get a new palette. It's just clear plastic and I got with a 40% off coupon at AC Moore. I will be working on this tomorrow if I can keep that promise to myself.