[Chris Saper]

Dear Barbara,

As you consider your next portrait, I wanted to suggest thinking through the center of interest in your painting before you begin. As I look at the your progress in this thread, there are a couple of things that come to mind.

First, the way you employ edges is very critical to supporting the center of interest, which I'm sure is meant to be the face. However, the sharpest edge, combined with the greatest contrast, and placed against the strongest color, is the hat band, followed by the medals. As a result, the eye is pulled away from the face.

The same thing applies to the strong general color of the uniform, which overpowers the more tentative colors used in the skin tones. I find it helpful to keep the center of interest in the "conscious" front of my mind when I paint from photos, since they are misleading in regard to edges, color and values. When I paint from life, I can let the thoughts move more into the "subconscious" zone, since all the information I will need is in front of me as I paint.