I seriously considered uploading this one to today’s (or yesterday’s) “30 in 30” page, but I thought that would be dishonest of me. This painting was started way back on September 16, but I’ve worked on it here and there since then, so technically, it can no longer qualify as “a painting a day”. It’s too bad because I’m actually quite proud of it and would love to show it to a wider audience.
I’m particularly happy with the blue highlight on her nose! 😉
I always lose steam by the end of the week, so today’s painting for the 30 in 30 challenge might be a little late…
On the plus side, I might have figured out the best working method for me:
And that way, I’ll get my nice, smooth surfaces, and my fine detail, and not want to tear my hair out! 😉
In case you were wondering, this painting is 90% acrylic. I only painted over in oils parts of her nose, lips, ear, and the lower part of her cheek.
I must be moving up in the world because I’ve graduated from canvas boards/panels to actual stretched canvases!
This one looks better as a .jpeg than it does as a painting, for some reason. I can’t say I’m incredibly happy with it, and that’s mostly because I think I started to treat the oil paint like watercolour*. I was so focused on keeping the skin pale – knowing that if I made it too dark I wouldn’t be able to fix it later, because, y’know, OILS – that I may have made this painting a little linseed-heavy. Consequently, I had tremendous trouble painting her eyes, eyelids, and eyelashes. Her hair is the only part of her which is actual meaty PAINT.
And ok, I may have exaggerated her wall-eyes.
Tomorrow: back to acrylics!
*Speaking of watercolours, I keep wondering if I should give them a go. I’m at the halfway point in the “30 in 30” challenge, and quite frankly, I’m getting a little bored**, and may need to change things up a bit.
**But honestly, how much novelty was I expecting when I decided to paint women’s faces for 30 days? Three eyes? A nose growing out the top of her forehead??
This one kicked my butt. But GOOD.
I was feeling confident (read: cocky) after my painting yesterday, and seeing as how we’re enjoying the very last of the warm weather here in Montreal, I thought that I might as well take advantage of being able to open the windows and crank out another oil painting.
And I worked, and slaved, and struggled, and cursed the day I ever decided to paint a portrait with hair (my nemesis!!!). And after great effort… it turned a corner, and it came out alright. Oh sure, there are parts that look too much like a “painting” (very obvious large brushstrokes where the unfriendly reality of oil paints reared its ugly head – i.e. you can’t paint pale over dark and get the highlight effect you’re looking for, at least not in one sitting . I swear, oil paints should simply be renamed “Can’t Undo” paints), but I’m pretty happy with it.
(Oh, who am I kidding? I’m RELIEVED, and that’s the truth of it! Daily Painting may be all about the journey and not the destination, but… at the end of the day, I really, really, REALLY wanted a pretty picture!)
Back to oils! I know, I know… I’m fickle. I actually think I’m gettin’ the hang of them.
EMMA PITTSON 