Angel 18" x 24" oil on canvas

Angel posed for a portrait group I attend last year. I was never happy with the painting I did so I pulled it out recently and reworked it. I think it's easier to work on a portrait that is close to life size than to paint the smaller sizes I usually work on. And of course, photos are always more difficult to work with, but easier if they're photos I take myself. Then I can adjust the color in Photoshop to match what I recall. The real problem is with the room where we paint: there is a lot of reflected light from windows, which changes as you paint and a few overhead lights tend to turn on and off at will, which drastically changes the lighting as you're working.

This painting is still not perfect, but it's better than it was and I'm tired of working on it.

Continuing Along the Same Theme

This poor girl has been waiting for a nose job for almost a year. It was time to fix her. I started the piece at a class at the Scottsdale Artists School last year but we only had three hours to work on her and at 16" x 20" this is a life size painting. This girl has some head of hair!

The cold weather forces me to stay inside anyway so I don't mind trying to finish these pieces. I have a few other plein air pieces that I did in Arizona last year that are on the schedule to be "fixed or pitched". What should my new motto for this year be? Mediocre: another version of Yellow Ochre. You would have to be a painter to get that one, but I'll explain. Yellow ochre is a bland yellow that resembles baby poo. It's not pretty, Although it is useful. I just wanted a catchy slogan that rhymes. ;)

A few of the things I changed on Julie, using a bit of artistic license:

1.  Her gaze-- it was directed forward and for  my purposes I wanted her to appear to be looking at us (the people viewing the painting.) 
2. I added an earring. It was so tempting because that sliver of hair hanging down to her cheekbone deserved to have an echo. Red seemed to be the natural choice.
3. Her nose. I don't give everyone I paint a nose job but if it detracts from the woman's face and I don't have to have a likeness I just go for it. She still has a strong face but I have made some alterations for the sake of art.
4. I changed her expression from boredom to almost a kind of wariness. Whatever... she is done and I can move on to the next "Rework". It's really kind of fun because I get to play plastic surgeon without using the knife.

Julie 20" x 16" oil on linen