worked on kate some more this morning, made her face wider, etc. still to do is her hair, on the left particularly, her eyelashes and the shadows under them, her hairline all along the top, and her nose ring needs to go in. going to work on helen now, and ill post the photos of that on monday.
the painting of kate is nearly finished! today i have to make the face a little wider in places, sort out the hair, the pattern on the clothes and anything elae that can be done while its wet. then i can leave it until monday, and do stuff like eyelashes and the shadows under the eye. also today, im going to try and put a bit more detail into the face, as i think it looks a bit plasticey – it needs to have the pores and tiny hairs that you can see close up on a face put in.
the one of helen is still lagging behind, but i made some progress with it yesterday, by changing the mouth another couple of times, and altering the shape of the face. i think i may have chosen the wrong photograph of helen, because her face is in shadow, and that makes it look very flay tonally. the one of kate is in bright sunlight, with strong shadows, so its very sculptural and therefore easier to paint. at least i know for the next lot lof photographs.
right. yesterday i worked on helen in the morning. i moved her mouth about 2 millimeters to the left, and changed the angle of it slightly. i looks better, but the face as a whole still isnt looking like helen – or more, it definately resemlbles her, but i think that is more to with the hair than her facial features. when i asked my tutor what he thought was wrong with it, he said he didnt think the eyes where large enough. i said that id measured them and they where exactly the right size. he said that sometimes you have to exaggerate a little to make a paiting look right. this is interesting, as i’d been slavishly following the photograph up to this point. in my last tutorial he also pointed out that the photos dont have the power to differentiate between what parts of the image are more important than others, but as a pianter i have that power so should feel free to place the emphisis on those parts of the image that i feel to be more important, by making those areas more finished.
in the afternoon i did some more work on kate, that image is going very well, no difficulties at all, actually. tyoday was supposed to be the day i got these two paintings done by, so i guess i’d better go and get on with it…
worked on both paintings today. realised that the mouth on helens is actually in the wrong place. just pleaseed to have found out what was wrong with it! i’ve scrubbed the mouth out and will put it back in tommorow, in the right place.
found this quote. its exactly what my degree show is about! (although i was planning on having four portraits and four skull paintings, as we are given enough room for this number)…
‘The legend of the three living and the three dead most probably comes from France. The oldest manuscripts go back to the 13th century: they contain poems of Baudoin de Condé, of Nicolas de Margival and of two unknown writers. The plot of "the legend" is rather simple: three corpses (representing ecclesiastics) meet with three living (a duke, a count, and a prince). The latter are terrified by this encounter. The dead speak to the three rich men, urging them to repent: "Such as I was you are, and such as I am you will be. Wealth, honor and power are of no value at the hour of your death.". ‘
