The shadow is too dark. There needs to be more light in the shadow which makes it look a little violet. So, don’t let this revision scare you. I will try to post a second image at the end of this post. Sometimes I can, sometimes not. In the second image, i have added a lot of glazing to heighten the colors. Also, I have touched up details and put more color in the hair. The violet on that shadow will get toned down, but not on this pass. Hang in there. Changes are a little scary but you have to begin to move right into them.

No one can imagine what it is like to watch life evolve in a canvas with oils unless you have seen it happen. Also, when people see a portrait, they sometimes just see a person staring back. They don’t notice the art, the technique. once in a while, an artist or an especially perceptive and spiritual person will be stirred to the core by the light and life I strive for while painting. That happened today when a friend saw the collection of my work at Loretto. Her response and kindness took my breath away. She gave me a gift and I so appreciate her sentiments. This painting of my grand daughter is just now reaching this point. I can just about see her turn and speak to me. Hallelu Yah!!!

See if you can recognize the changes (from right to left).

As I add these photos, one might think they are all the same. They are developing though and a portrait artist begins to have a sense of what comes next and also what must be done first. Try to remember those quizes in school where you had to arrange a group of photos or objects in the proper order.. So that is what we do here. If I am able to make this work, i will add another photo to give you a better visual. For now, i added more detail in the hair, the eyes and lashes. This image has a lot of life captured in the photo, It is my job to not lose it but to paint it so it is in there. Happy painting. ill post the other photo later.

Today I applied a gel/flesh mixture and buffed to renew the painting surface and deepen the skin. After that, using a tiny filbert sable with a good point, I methodically went over a lot of the details. Students ask, ’what first?’ but that must be decided by the artist and sometimes dictated by what simply must come first. I would never paint the dark pupils and then go back to add the iris details. Yes, it could be done, but it seems to make sense that the dark pupil would go on last. I indicate where it should be by painting an under layer in an earlier step, but that last dark layer finalizes it all. I tell my students to let everything dry before that last mark so that it can be taken of easily if a mistake is made. When an artist is more confident, then they move ahead as they trust their decisions. I will still add more darks in the hair shadows and lift the brights of the flesh even more. At this point, my focus is on the likeness which can be a minute, tiny mark to bring perfection. Note the tiny hair shadows on forehead and cheek and the changes in the background color. Soon, I will play with the hair, which my granddaughter insists must be blue!!! This IS beginning to have that magic quality. If I allow it to dry over night, maybe the elves will come and make it even better😉 Diana

And always corrections. Here I layed down a layer of transparent flesh, then buffed. next I had two reds, one was winsor and the other a rosey hue to match her skin tone. i put these in the forehead, around the eyes and nose, on the cheeks and lips and some in the neck. I also mixed my neutral dark with flesh and a little of the red to darken the skin where her hair shades it. I changed the line of her jaw to take it up a little higher and i refined the eyes with this darkened flesh color. Next, using a soft sable brush I gently applied a whisper of white, (titanium, flake and naples yellow) to the areas where the flesh needed brightened and I was sure to delicately carry this bright over the entire surface of skin. I have seen studies that say white should not go into shadows but in this process, if you do not gently touch all skin, it will appear unfinished, as though the artist missed that spot. It should not look painted white but only a thin film as a thin layer of skin on the surface. For the flesh area, always buff, then allow to dry.

I know it doesn’t look much different but it will help in the end result. These layers in between cannot be skipped. Without them, the depth of skin and reality are lost.