BJ, from 30 years ago

[Jen Reinstadler]

This woman's husband wanted a three-quarter figure painting based on his wife's college photo. I photographed her own present-day figure. I know the midtones in the chest area are too dark. Help! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Besides the too-red cheeks and light skin, why does she look like a clown?

[Jen Reinstadler]

Here's my "composite photo."

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Jen, you placed a teenager's face on a 40+ adult's figure, which right away throws off your body proportions. I don't think her chest area would have been this much developed back when she was a teen. Take the painting infront of a mirror and look at the mirror image. You will ee right away that her head is too small for her body.

Because of your bad resource photo (too flat and washed out), you don't have all the information needed to make the cheeks turn gradually. I would take the black and white image to Photo Shop and play around with Image/Adjustments/Levels. Maybe there you can get more information about the different values of her cheeks.

Good Luck!

[Kimberly Dow]

Her mouth is softer than the eyes and eyebrows - try and soften those hard edges with some blending and maybe toning down the contast...this could help with the cartoony-feel a bit. Hope this helps!

[Jen Reinstadler]

Thanks for the comments.

Another problem I'm having is in the cheek area, where I've overworked it. There's no more canvas texture, and it's slick. Should I scrape it down, sand it, or is there another way?

[Kimberly Dow]

If it's still wet and you can scrape it do that. Sanding on canvas will leave shiny patches that are another whole problem. I've heard it can be done right - but I've never figured it out.