Forbidden Fruits

[josephxengraver]

MY IMAGE(S):







GENERAL INFORMATION:
Title: Forbidden Fruits
Year Created:
Medium: Oil
Surface: Canvas
Dimension: 40x50 cm
Allow digital alterations?: Yes!

MY COMMENTS:
All comments welcome

MY QUESTIONS FOR THE GROUP:
I am not sure that I should add jewelry or leave it off,what do you think of the background color.

[Debzy]

Personally, I would not add jewellery as i think it may detract from the simple beauty of the figure. It is a very bold painting and the background is also bold. I like it. Jewellery might make it fussy (in my opinion). I think the chin / neck is a little off, craning a little too far forward, and the elbow (viewers left) forearm might be a bit thin, but I think you have done a great job. Full figure portraits are not easy and there is a great likeness! Well done. I like the colours, It isn't meant to be a soft misty portrait I don't think, given the title you want it to make a bold statement! Just my 2 cents worth. Cheers. Debs. =))

[josephxengraver]

Thank you Debzy for you imput,I have touched up the painting a bit and added a small pearl earring.This is my first attempt at a full figure pose and you comments are appreciated,I hope to improve as I progress as a painter.I have been painting only from my imagination since the first canvas after a visual stroke retired me from engraving a year ago.
Having just completed canvas no.34 called Lucky Bob, which was fun and a great exercise in pushing my imagination, but not very challenging, I painted it mostly with my fingers in less than two hours one of which was thinking time.
When I saw this sexy pose in a magazine while waiting at the dentist office,my first thought was. Did I have the skills to paint a canvas using the magazine page photo as a reference? I thought about the pose while the dentist worked on me, by the time he finished I knew that I would at least give it a go.
I have eliminated jewelry, extra hair, strings and changed colors but stuck to the pose. I was pleased to find that all the studying and drawing I had done engraving game scenes and the information shared here on Wet Canvas has been a great help to me.Skin tones are burnt sienna, white, and a bit of orange rubbed into the canvas with the tips of my fingers
Thank you for looking, have a great day.
Joseph, author of “A Gifted Man (memoir of an artist)

[tgsloth]

Your second version is much improved and I love the guy with the cigar. You've got real talent.

[song_bird]

Yes, that has come along nicely. I think she looks a bit severe and stern though. I would bring some softness and youthfulness to her face. Soften her facial features and expression. as in the photo, where she has an impish pucker and a bit of a smile, with the corner of her mouth turned up and pulled in, cheek plumped and a bit dimpled. Softer eyes and a straighter brow line. Less severe on the forehead, rounding it a bit, with a softer hairline. Breeze in her hair like in the photo, very sexy! Kind of looks like she's sitting by the water

Her left limbs need some muscle and plumping. They are too narrow.

Something like this. Maybe you can get her to smile and sparkle a little more, although I guess you could say she's a bit dreamy here.

[josephxengraver]

Thank you Bob for the encouragement, I checked out your site, great imagination and art work.
Song bird, I know nothing about computer editing, what you have done to change the painting is great, however I have fallen out of love with it and I think that she is completed. I am starting another canvas; the woman will be wearing that mischievous smile you have created. Thank you all. Joseph

[eyecandy2]

I am only going to make one small suggestion and that is with the hands. Your fingers look snakes or worms. Remember that ineach finger there are 3 bones and each is straight and bulge at each end. If you will paint in the bones and then add the flesh, you will get a real looking finger. It pays to study some anatomy if you do figures. Every part is built up on a bony structure. I do hope that this helps.

[AllanFink1960]

Well your drawing is very good, but your rendering is very flat.
I have some suggestions that will help you.

Your background color is very intense. I don't mean that like "woah, dude, that is intense!", I mean like, color theory type of intense. It needs to be grayed down.

I would suggest you mute it by mixing it with a bit of orange. It will fade into the background better and not flatten your figure so much by "coming forward". I would also suggest a gradient ramp on the background going from dark blue to lighter blue, with the dark in the upper left and the lighter in the lower right. It is actually that way in your reference photo. Doing so creates kind of a "surrounding space" around the figure that gives it some depth.

Blue is a tough choice for backgrounds with flesh because it will tend to bring out the orange color of the flesh. Complementary colors just do that. So when you gray it down with orange...make it nearly gray with just a HINT of blue.

You seem to have lost track of your source of light. Your reference photo is strongly lit from the left side but parts of your figure like the arm on the right (model's left arm) are very ambiguous.

Is there a reason you are using warm colors for your shadows? You may like them better if you use cool colors.

The hair is totally flat. Again, think about your source of light, and that her hair is covering a mostly spherical egg shape of the skull. The curls of hair themselves will have a light side, and a shadow side, and highlights.

[josephxengraver]

Thank you Allen. I need some direct comments that point out my flaws.
I have worked on this a bit more, made her less serious. and filled out her face a bit.I am not a good hairdresser.I am learning a lot with this project.Here is the painting after touch up.
And here is something new and a bit more complicated that I am enjoying.Again thank you everyone, and have a great day.