"Miss Elaine"
 

16" x 20" after one session with client today. We have agreed on the design and she's pleased with the likeness which needs developing... I have a photo reference to work from until she returns for the final sitting... I'm trying to decide if I should downplay the scarf or pump up the contrast in her face??? Any comments are most welcomed...

The scarf works. And you are smart to ease into the contrast. If anything should be played down in my view, it would be the black dress below. I just finished a painting where I had the whole upper canvas in light background, and the whole lower canvas in dark clothing. I decided to vignette the lower form by just using outlines and making the background come into the form below. Do I make any sense? In other words, I didn't like including so much of the figure to the edge of the canvas just because there is canvas there. In this case, perhaps it would help to vignette her and fade out the dress in the lower left and just use outlines. Perhaps it is too late to change. I was glad I did. I will post the painting today so you can see what I mean.

I had an older person pose for me at an event this week. She wanted no double chin or wrinkles. So I said, "What are artists for?" and proceeded to draw her, realizing that the drawing would not look like her, and that she would probably not be happy anyway. I like being true to a person's likeness, regardless of age. I would rather draw or paint them just as they look in all their splendor, than try to "improve" them. She is happy. Keep it that way. Nice job.

Jeanine,

When painting a person of color, the opportunity presents itself to play with the value arrangements we might usually use. Her dress will be a dark value, her hair will be a light value in the light, middle value in the shadow, and her face will be a middle value in the light, with the shadow being a dark value. As you continue to expand the value range, I would be careful to not go any darker on the background, while you could push the value darker and richer on the face. If the contract between the background and the face is too slight, your subject will disappear into the background. By pushing the value difference between the background and the face, the face will pop nicely. I see a very exciting and interesting play between the colorful scarf and the bark dress.

My favorite to paint is dark ebony skin. Rich purples, oranges, greens and blues. You'll have a lot of fun with this one.

Peggy

Jeanine, I love your work; let us see how this one is progressing, what decisions you're making, etcetera.

Miss Elaine Continued...
 

Here is my progress report...

Terrific! It looks done. We will see. If she liked it before, she will love it now.