I haven’t created the right set up to properly photograph my paintings, especially the finished ones. They are consistently low quality, with reflections and speckles, which I try to clean up using a noise reduction filter but, invariably, I lose a lot of the detail — subtle colors and reflections.
Anyway, here’s my latest portrait of Susan. She was insisting on something perhaps a bit less idealized. I like the way the tree trunk in the background echos the shape of her left hand that she is resting her chin upon. As usual I’m a rather impatient painter and I don’t take enough time to transition from the transparent shadows to the more opaque highlights. Especially in paintings such as this one where there is intense chiaroscuro that can be a problem. It ends up looking a bit cartoon-like and two-dimensional. The brightest areas appear too chalky, despite efforts to glaze over with a bit of color.
I must keep trying ….
