Steven,
You are right about the triangle on her jawline being too bright and also about her chin being too hard-edged. These were oversights and I appreciate you pointing them out. Your squinting suggestion really highlighted the problems and will be a useful tool for the future.
I so agree with you about the background not being quite right, but I'm unable to come up with anything better. I applied various washes to some water media acetate which I then placed over the painting. Most colors drained the life from her. But I always have problems with background colors. After reading the thread on 'Clothing doesn't make the person' in Cafe G., I realize I'm not paying enough attention to color when setting up the portrait. Karin Wells suggestions are making me rethink my approach or lack thereof. I have so much to learn!
I don't like the placement of my signature either. It looks silly and distracting perching on her shoulder, but I sign in pencil and it wouldn't show on her black jacket. I may need to learn to sign using an opaque w/c like guoache (sp?) for this.
Good suggestions for seeing what the camera has to say about a work in progress. I'll try it with my new digital camera. I do use a mirror and that helps too.
Your mountain imagery about the learning curve in getting acceptable pics onto the computer made me laugh! Why would I think you are exaggerating?!
Thanks for your insightful comments Steven. Good luck with the mountain climbing...don't give up!
Margaret
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