Work in progress from a 20's sepia photo
 

This is oil on linen, 20" x 16", done from a 1920 sepia group shot.

I've had trouble with the blouse. I envision it as satin, however I'm having trouble since there is no reference. In the original picture there is a little sister's (great aunt of mine) head in the way.

I've improvised the background. This digital image also does not show good color.

I'd like your comments and direction please.

ReNae,

Have you seen the work of the new member Celeste McCall? http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...&threadid=2110
She has this absolutely gorgeous nostalgic feel to her work on porcelain. You should check it out since you are working from these archival photographs.

Celeste's work is lovely
 

Beth,

Thank you, and Celeste, your work is lovely.

Looking at this post again, I'm very disappointed in the quality of the reproduction. It's so flat and some colors are gone. It's also very grainy.

Oh, well. It is what it is. I'll keep working on this digital thing.

A cropped shot of the scanned original.

I really like the photo ReNae, I wish I had the expertise to comment on oil, but I am way too much of a beginner! Have you done any of these like William Whitaker's NuPastel Technique?

I think if you pushed the values in the photo's a tad bit, it would be a good study for the Nupastel or charcoal. I am not sure what the rule is when it comes to reference in one color translating to full color, extra tricky I would think. ;)

New Nupastel
 

Beth,

I just went through William Whitaker's demo. Wow. You're right, this photo would be a great start into this technique. The full photo has 11 people in it. One great aunt in particular would really make a good subject. I started in pastels but have never used the NuPastel. Drawing is my first love, but I also like detail and soft pastels are best when working loose.

I feel a trip to the art supply store coming on.

I'll post my efforts.

ReNae - Just a quick thought. When you're dealing with aged resource photos that are missing the color information you need for a color oil painting, you might first use a simple tonal medium to explore your subject - look at this beautiful drawing recently posted by Deladier.

You might find graphite, charcoal, sauce, conte or pen and ink as a better medium choice; anything that would allow you to explore the information that you do have available in your source.

Sometimes very simple tonal images can be quite powerful and you won't be in the impossible position of adding imaginary colors and color temperatures when you're portraying a subject in a realistic manner.

Color
 

Mari,

You might be right. I think colorizing Grandmother might have ben a little ambitious on my part. I do have color photos of her from age 50-80. I've matched her hair color of choice (Clairol) fairly well. Her skin tones were of a peach tone. This exercise has been a great argument for painting from life.

These historic projects are great fun. Your handling of the eyes is nice at a glance, but upon closer inspection, the eye on the left perhaps should be a bit smaller as the face turns away. The nose could be turned more towards that direction as well. The drawing layout appears to be a little weak, therefore.

The face may be turning towards the viewer's left a bit more than you show. That may be influenced also by the nose needing a little modeling on the viewer's left side around the nostril. It appears to be too small.

These kinds of problems preclude any serious appreciation of the painting qualities which may be apparent. It is so important to get the drawing right before painting.

Yes !
 

Lon,

Thank you. Yes I see what you mean. I liked her eys also but somethng was off. I will attempt to downsize, or turn the left one away. Her nose is a bit small and incomplete. Looking at it here also shows how I've got her chin out of compass as well.