Ben and Julie.. with a touch of green

This was the final portrait which I did for Christmas. The painting is of a friend's brother and his girlfriend. I think that it is the strongest of the paintings which I spent December doing and I believe that to be a direct result of 'team work'. Britta, the above mentioned friend, came over when I was almost finished with the painting and we spent an hour (at least) 'fixing' things. She has an amazing eye and was able to spot things/ imperfections which I didn't. And I, thankfully, and able to add a bit of blush to a cheek, darken very light eyes or add a bit more shadow to a nasal labial fold without killing the whole painting (much harder than it sounds).

So, for future projects I hope to inlist her help... just to iron out the final little 'wrinkles'.
Of course it always helps to have stunning people to paint!

Holiday Portraits!

My first portraits in many years...
And I think that they turned out very well.

I am starting this blog for a number of reasons... as an online portfolio, as a way for clients to see and proof the paintings before I actually clean my pallet and, finally, as a tool.
When I just uploaded all these images I noticed something which had eluded me up until now. Sometimes it takes seeing the original photos and images of the painting in a similar scale right next to each other. The younger girl in the second painting... her mouth doesn't seem quite right to me... I have painted and repainted the lips, the cheeks... only now I realise that her teeth are too wide... there should be more negative space between the corner of the mouth and where the teeth end.
Fortunately this painting is still on the easel so... back to my paints... for now.

There... that took me about 30 seconds to fix once I found the problem... after looking for three hours.