Portrait in Progress

Letting someone see your work in progress... it's not for sissies. It's like letting someone see your closet. I'm posting it because this is a blog about my work and this portrait is my consuming work right now. It was commissioned in September, right before Ike hit us and right before I went on a painting trip to Wyoming, so I didn't start it till October. I did 3 small paintings in preparation: 2 were done in one long day with the model posing and 1 was done from reference photos to nail the composition. This one is 60x42" and while it is covered with paint, everything you see will be painted over almost entirely; her face has just a very thin layer of paint and her hair has much canvas showing. I love painting directly but when there's so much canvas, it's not practical to expect the paint to stay juicy. For this reason, I paint wet in wet, one section at a time. When it's dry, I'll apply retouch varnish and do the same thing again. I really can't wait to get back to the face. This woman is so pretty and happy, but at this stage she looks a mere melancholy shadow of her true self. I'll keep you posted on my progress.