Eye Say ......

When I started this portrait kick I honestly thought I would do one and realise that portrait painting was something I just could not do; instead I find myself drawn to it and have been relatively pleased with the results of my first 3. I am now embarking on number 4.

While doing these I have learnt that if the eyes don't work then the painting won't. You can get the nose and the mouth off, even the wrinkles and hair but if you get the eyes wrong then the whole painting is off.

My fourth attempt is of a Sri Lankan chap in a turban; as usual I was drawn to him because of 1) his eyes and 2) his age and wrinkles ...lol...seems that is what attracts me in this portrait kick.

Here is a shot of where it is at the moment. I have only roughed in the beard and the mouth area; the nose is about 3/4 done and the eyes .... can't seem to get the shading I want, I would like the left area more shaded without losing definition - a difficult task for me. I am also trying to get the eye more lifelike.

The first painting I did was much easier - his eyes were closed and hidden .... rotfl. I am now stepping out of my comfort zone and painting eyes. The whole life a person seems to be reflected in them and so they really are the windows of the soul.

I have zoomed in on the eyes in the last 2 works and in this one so I could compare how I am interpreting them and if I am improving with each painting. It is probably too hard to tell because each one's expression (in their eyes) and the direction of the painting are different.

Still, it is giving me a better grasp on this 'eye' business. I will probably do some studies that just concentrate on the eyes so I can get a better of idea of the shape, 'movement', light points, etc and then hopefully (lol) the eyes in my painting will become a bit more life like.

Bear in mind too that I am still not sure if the paintings are finished yet .... I think the first one is because it is more of a study on the eye nose area; the second one - well, I just don't know yet. Don't want to touch it for a while, nothing worse that fiddling with a work and then ruining by over painting it.

Of course all this painting means that my UFO pile is untouched. I could be nasty as blame B11 for buying me my lovely easel ... rotfl.

Although I have been good and managed to finish three tasks (check them out on theGIDy girls website) so I haven't been completely neglectful in trying to get the UFO pile down.

Plus I have a quilt that I am working on (well several including a UFO) that is all machine embroidered and each block has four hoopings, each of which take at least 4 hours to stitch out; so I can have that burbling away in the background while I paint.


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