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Old 02-11-2002, 06:27 PM   #7
Margaret Elvin Margaret Elvin is offline
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Joined: Feb 2002
Location: Albany, NY
Posts: 28
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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