THREE GENERATIONS, 9111, commission portraits of three women


This portrait is of three women representing three generations. I think I nailed the likeness of all three, but it's always nerve wracking to see if the client will like the work (he hasn't seen this yet.) I had to combine two photos to create the composition and I've only seen one of the subjects in person.
Painting faces is not as daunting as some would think. Each face has reference points that can be measured - space between the eyes, length of the face, length of the nose, width of the smile, etc. A projector is a great help in getting accurate mapping of the key points on a face. My projector is an inexpensive model that projects a pretty fuzzy image, but it is a huge time saver to be able to
sketch in the key points of the projected image.
Teeth can be a problem to portray and all these ladies have big, beautiful smiles. If you paint each tooth, it tends to look artificial, so I usually "suggest" teeth without painting them individually.
I love to paint people with glasses. They are a very important part of the "look" of a person who wears them. I like to tint the glass slightly blue or blue-green.

6 comments:

Pattie Wall said...

Very nice Carol! I like the fact that you have different skin tones introduced also! It's difficult to say the least with even two people in a portrait, and you put them together using different photos! The client should be very pleased I should think!

Lauren Maurer said...

Looks great! I'm sure he'll love it! I struggle with teeth, too! That's why I love painting babies so much... lol

Dana Cooper said...

Nice portraits Carol! Your client should love them.
It is a good feeling when you think you have nailed likenesses. I think you are right about what I call the staple points, once they are located, everything else falls in between.
Your new avatar looks great too!

Ann Rogers said...

Beautiful portrait of all three, I can't imagine why they wouldn't all love it!

Barb said...

Very nice. I am sure your client will love it.

SarahBowie said...

Great job, and I enjoyed reading about how you measure the features etc.