Skiing At Wolf Mountain - Wip

[edf]

20 X 24 oil on wood panel. Taken from a photo while my wife and two middle sons were skiing. She was more than a little miffed, at them not me...thus my trying to put a smile on her. The background was a snow bound mountain rising in the distance and it will change very little in the final product. Any comments are appreciated.

[tommie]

I LIKE THIS! It has character. The sky is great. Good Job!

[edf]

Thank you Tommie...I've worked on it a bit more and it's starting to look more 3d.

[georgia dell]

A strong portrait. I like. I'll bet she's a strong woman.

[edf]

Georgia. Thank you for the insight. I shared it with my wife and I couldn't agree with you more. She is a woman of significant character and presence.

[edf]

Worked on the jacket, hair and a few details here and there...I'm thinking the hair needs a little more middle tones.

[Thinky]

Wow, excellent portrait. The red coat, strong and drapey, adds a feeling of hero-ish ness. She is looking at us daring us to look back at her! I love the faded background. Makes her stand out. This is so good! When you showed your wife, did she get mad at your for not making her look "pretty" and flatter her?

[Dave Johnson]

I was immediately drawn to the glasses on this, even though her eyes aren't showing. They are one of the main focal points for me. Having said that, I think you should take another look at the lens on our left, as it doesn't seem to match the other. I believe symmetry is important here, and I like the shape of the lens on our right better, so I would suggest duplicating that shape on the other side. Other than that, there's a lot to like about this. I think the red is just the right tone, and really sets this painting off.

[edf]

The eyebrows had not been refined, thus the appearance that the glasses were radically off. What I've done here is hopefully an improvement on them.

Put a little more color in the cheeks as well.

Thank you for your comments.

[TamaraB]

Originally Posted by edf

She was more than a little miffed, at them not me...

Suuure - blame it on the kids!

Just kidding...

This is very cool - I agree with the first reviewer - this has GREAT character...

[edf]

Except for a few minor touches here and there, and going to call this it. The upper lip, in the painting, isn't as bright as indicated here, so I take it I need to work on getting a better camera for uploads.

The reference photo taken in 2002 is attached as well.

If anyone knows of a good tutorial on doing hair, or meaningful suggestion, they would be very much appreciated.

Thanks to all of you for your comments and insights. Have a good weekend.

[edf]

I would really appreciate your comments on the two color schemes.

After living with this for several weeks I thought I would make an effort to take some of the redishness out of it and slightly reduce contrast, but may have brightened it too much overall. In trying to put some reflected light into her left cheek, I think I went too far as well.

Is the newest (right side) more 3D to you? Need to finish the bulb of the nose...LOL!

Thank you for your insights.

[edf]

Decided to do more on this, in spite of the length of time fussing with it. Brought her right side in a bit and added more depth (hopefully). The photo comes across as having a little more grayish muzzle than the actual painting. Regards to all...

[carolkay]

Dean-- I like the one up on the left-- bt everyone will want to give their advice, and in the end its yr painting.

You certainly have a great eyen ad are doing really well i think. what kind of wood are you painting on?

[WebCat]

Love her 'miffed' look. I'm so new to portraits I can't even make a comment except that this is a great portrait. I'm drawn to the 'caught in the moment' feeling of this.