Some art before I go

Posted on | April 19, 2007 | 2 Comments

I’m headed out to meet Angie in a bit, but I wanted to share the final versions (yes, you read that right – two versions…) of the dark-haired lady’s face I did.

Why two versions? Well, here’s what happened. To the left, you see Version 1. I fixed the mouth, finalized the eyes, and I was happy with the overall skin tones and coloring of the face. I scanned it and realized that the background was far too dark. I find it interesting that I often find these things after scanning them, rather than seeing it when they’re in front of me. It’s something I have noticed in my work for a while – even back when I was working on the magazine. Putting pictures on the computer gives us another view.

So, after I pulled the painting off the scanner, I decided to change the background to make it lighter. I added in more white and turquoise. It was looking good, when suddenly, while I was adding the final touches of some Iridescent Copper highlights and suddenly I looked down and saw that I had rested my hand in the turquoise background and had transferred it to the face. Her cheek and lips were speckled with copper. And not just a bit of copper – a print of the side of my hand! I was mortified! I covered it up with buff and then walked away. I needed to make sure it was dry before I played some more with the face and mouth to fix it. The only solace I had was that I had already scanned the image before. But I wanted to have this one right in my hands. So, I walked away. I went to clear out the pantry, which I have been meaning to do for months now. When I finished it (and it looks amazing, by the way!), I came back and did some cosmetic surgery on her face. To the right is the final version. I cannot tell you how relieved I was to see that I could actually fix this.
You may not really see much difference, but I can see it when I look at the picture both up close and on the screen. I see a deeper skin tone and a bit of a smaller mouth. I’m still pleased with this final version. I don’t know which I like better. What do you think?

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