Ambling around half-familiar territory

 

 

 

Being four days late with the previous post meant a loss of four days' production time for my current Il Giardino encounter. I've barely begun working on it but meanwhile, to make my month-end goal, I hauled out two unsatisfactory 2020 portraits and tried some quick makeovers.  (Think of this as taking a Spring Break Spa Day).

 

I can splash colour around with the best of them…

 

…but I still have so much to learn about using colour in portraits to stretch beyond the typical flat Colouring Book Syndrome that I'm prone to.

 

Here's the first version of one of the 2020 portraits:

 

I tried to pay more attention to the artists' basics that I haven't yet mastered:-- noting the light source, placing rosy highlights where bone or cartilage is close beneath the surface of the skin, and finding the right dull green shade that's visible even in living flesh if the lighting is just right.  Here's the recent re-do (at least the neck is less giraffe-like):

 

When I did the 2020 portrait, I wasn't at all happy with it – and started a second version from scratch:

 

My verdict at that time:  Like the first female, this one was not bad enough to paint over right away, but not good enough to keep on the top of the heap.  And there I found it again, ready for a facelift at the Spa -- with the results shown here:

 

All right, this was somewhat interesting to do.  But "The Law of Diminishing Returns" came to mind as I decided that fresh starts would be more valuable than makeovers. 

 

Just coincidentally, as I poked around in ThriftBooks looking for something else, I happened to see this intriguing book by a contemporary UK artist I didn't know.

 

 I took a quick look at Hashim Akib's website and immediately returned to ThriftBooks to "Place my order."  (Click on the link and then either wait for his portrait paintings to scroll along or use the arrows in the upper right corner).

 

Hash, you are one of my new heroes!!

 

I don't see myself becoming this spontaneous or splashily confident, but oh……won't it be fun to explore this new territory?!   I'd better head to the garden for now, but I'll be back.