Well this is not O Chem! And I have some explaining to do on my latest round. But first, the results are in from my previous studies. (Unfortunately, I had already completed my next ones…)
Results
The highlight of this round of critique, "You're clearly able to understand what I have to say, and already know what I'm going to say." Heck yes, Terry is happy! Luckily he thought of just a few more things to add:
Juliana: We agree she was the warm up. Again my darks are too dark and too cool. "Remember, black is not something you read automatically when you need a dark. Black is something you reach when you need a muted blue." Also, I need to render the eye as a ball with a value change on either side of the iris and with the turning of the eyelids as well. This next comment hits deep, because it was a fail on my most recent study below too! When lids are lit in an otherwise dark eye socket, they must be "darker than the surrounding lit areas to compensate for the optical value-shifts due to the dark surrounding the island of light." Like 'tree holes' for you plein air painters.
Sorolla's Selfie: Solid big sculpt! And nice value and saturation control on the greenish tint of his near cheek! I ought to slow down and vary the pressure of the brush. Additionally, the strokes that end in white canvas need to get some love even when they seem unimportant.
Elena: The sharp edges of her hair do "give it that old spanish painting look. It might have worked better had you established more of a hard-edged context. But I have to say, it does look intentional rather than negligent, so that's good." I'll take it! "Decisive and not-timid doesn't mean fast or necessarily thick, though. It's all in the intention behind each stroked and whether you were able to communicate those intentions." Which brings us back to the need to vary the strokes.
Latest
Last Saturday I went in cold to a 4-hour open studio session. I think I have been spoiled by my silent references in my quiet home. I quite forgot what could come up with a living model. Failing to bring my headphones cost me on this one. I lost patience before hour 3 and rushed to cover the canvas and beat it out of there. Not a great move, and not one I can properly blame the model for either.
in progress...
11x14" sketch from life
Well it had potential, but the thoughtless strokes are so hard to ignore. Speaking of eyes, her right one has some rounds to it, but her left is flat. The light catching her left lid does not account for the surrounding darkness and is too light. I remember trying to keep the background more translucent, but I wonder how it would look if I had ignored what was actually up there and went high key. As it is, the turp dripping down her right side is not effective; I should have gone back into that and given it some translucent love. I have a few "candidates" for inappropriately dark stroke awards: the outline of her wrap defending bellow her right ear, the dark at the end of the shadow cast by her neck, the corners of her mouth, the shadow cast from the wrap along the left side of her head, the one bellow her lip defining the top of her 'pout pouch' and the one under her chin.
The strokes making up her shoulder were desperate and thoughtless. The edge of her right cheek is too hard. Though the right side of her forehead turns a bit, the left side is a fail. The corner between the highlight and the darker temporal plane is missing along with any transition. Variance in brush stroke pressure is not great either.
I had to try and redeem myself the next day, so in the quiet comfort of my 'studio' I did one more.
Study of Sorolla's Clotilde con traje de noche
The timer was set for this. I gave myself an hour. Then in the spirit of this year's World Cup, I added an additional 20 minute overtime period.
I like this one much better.
I had a really difficult time with the right brow ridge catching last light as it turns to the dark side. I repainted it six or seven times and I'm still not thrilled. Perhaps it's that the eyebrow finishes too high off to her right, and that I was missing an intentional looking half tone to soften that edge. The part that bugs me the most is the light stretch of her jaw line against the dark of her left cheek. This passage is too dark above, too light below, and too cool as well. That area would have looked much better and subordinate with softer edges and proper value. A missed opportunity!
Her upper lip looks too big, or too low. Her eye needs to be more spherical too. Hmm no maybe that bugs me more. I wonder if eyeball practice is coming next?
