Kelly on Ice-my first custom panel

[Sharon Knettell]

I just got back from California and I am so pleased to see this wonderful piece. Don't you just love the Golden's Acrylic Medium for Pastel!. It can be adapted to just about any pastel technique and made into unlimited sizes! The only limits are ways to frame it!

You have a well thought out piece that is well designed. One thing I have learned over the years and is really helpful to portraiture is editing. When you use a photograph for a reference, it is hard to know when to stop with the detail. Leaving out or enhancing details is a subtle art that can really add a personal aesthetic to a painting.

That said, I find The eyes and the eyebrows a little harsh, especially the eye to the left. It does seem stretched out and could use a softer edge. The left cheek could be simplified and softened a bit as well. The frown marks between her eyes could be eliminated as well as the throat line, as Linda pointed out. You don't have to put every thing in.

I usually work on a photo print, with oils, adding cheek and lip color if needed and modifying and softening areas until it still looks like the subject but better.

One of the best ways to help with this process is to continue working from life. You are usually limited by time and money to make quicker decisions and are usually farther away so you are not concentrated on the details. It will also help you define a more personal style.

I hope this helps.

[Garth Herrick]

Lisa,

Seriously, is there still any room left in your next portrait intensive workshop this summer? I should seriously consider attending. I hope you will do anther eight hour demonstration for the benefit of the class! That would be wonderful to experience. What are the dates again?

Wonderful inspired work, Lisa!

Garth

[Lisa Ober]

Sharon, welcome back! Yes, I really love the pastel ground. I also love that I don't have to special order panels and pay a fortune. What a great tip.

I definitely have the disease of not knowing when to stop on the details. For me the details are the fun part but I guess I should think more about flattering people so I can keep getting work. I know I wouldn't want anyone to paint me the way I actually look. So, I am for sure wiping out the neck line and I think I will heed your suggestion to soften the eyebrows. I should say that the eyes and eyebrows are Kelly's most stunning feature in person. Her eyes are VERY dark and deep set and her eyebrows look drawn on even though they aren't. They are just perfectly plucked (which I can't imagine since it hurts so much). Still, since this is practice and could be a sample I think it is right to do what you suggest.

You can put oils on a photograph? Regular oil paint? Where have I been?! I can use Photoshop and follow your advice but I didn't know oils could be put on photos. See, I am showing how much I don't know.

I love working from life but barely get the chance since I do so many children's portraits in pastel. The local university does have evening model sessions that can be attented. I've been thinking of doing that again. It's great for honing drawing skills. You are right about stepping back from the painting more when working from life. Photos just aren't the same but I try to make due with what I can.

Thank you very much for your help. I feel privileged to have you respond and I'm grateful for your input.

Garth, you blinked and missed my speed painting workshop? See! You can't blink. The next one will be yesterday (wink). But seriously, it will be decades before there is any hope of a worthy workshop from me--and neither of us are likely to live long enough to see one (even if you are 20). I appreciate your thoughtful comment though. Thank you. I have another speed item to post once I get time to take a photo of it. I did it earlier tonight. You can tell me if it is a wonderful experience or not. Don't hold your breath in anticipation however and please don't blame it on the cute subject.

Thanks to both of you!

[Elizabeth Schott]

Lisa, this is lovely.

Is there anyway you can post a super - extreme closeup? I would like to see your stroke detail. Do you blend all of your applied pastel?

I think someone mentioned the chroma change in the hands? Personally I think you have them right - a woman of her age would have hands with a bit more red in them.

I'll look forward to that close up! IhopeIhope

[Lisa Ober]

Elizabeth, thank you so much! I also appreciate your comments on the hands. I had a teacher in college who told me the same thing about adult hands though I can't say I really had that on my mind.

Please find the close up you requested. If you want a higher quality version feel free to e-mail me and I will e-mail one back to you. I have found that with this new pastel ground I do not need to blend quite as much with the texture I have been able to create. It sort of blends itself. I do some smudging of course with my fingers. I like a softer look for skin. In fact, my finger was bleeding earlier (I thought of Jimmie and his Wallis warinings) and I had to put a liquid bandage on it! That's the first time that has ever happened to me. I don't think it's the rough texture. I think it has more to do with my pastels getting larger and slightly more complicated.

So, I hope this helps. It's the clearest I could get. Color is off but the texture should show. I think it has a similarity to linen. I brush in both directions with the ground. Thanks again for replying!

[Elizabeth Schott]

Thanks for the close-up Lisa.

You know the guys just don't understand that by this lovely ladies age we have those reddish hands from smacking those fellas around!

I will need to search about your panel process. I have used the wrong material for the backing before and the sanded primmer really warped it, rendering it useless. But this is looking very promising!

Sorry to be so intrusive, but when you say brushing, do you actually mean with a brush or those cracking fingers of yours?

Hint for the fingers, the texture of the paper or panel can reek havoc but this is also compounded by the pastel actually drying out your skin and cuticles - I don't know if you have noticed this. I try and wear latex gloves when I can stand it, it also keeps your skin's natural oils (well what's left of them) off your surface. I am pretty sure you knew all this, but just in case someone reading might not of...

[Sharon Knettell]

Lisa,

Actually they use oils for the tinted photo technique, which gave me the idea to do that.

Yes, regular oils and a Q-tip. You can really play with it. The older emulsion style prints work better than the new digital prints. In the digital prints the color can come off if you want to make to many changes that require wiping.

I hope my comments did not lead you to believe that I did not think that this was not an admirable piece.