11 months, 2 weeks ago | 0 comments

The old' grandma

Today i finished off the portrait of Olivia, a.k.a the old' grandma.... due to my limited experience in portraits i did go a bit over-board with the half tones and did make her look a wee bit old with a few too many lines which came out like wrinkles and a few too many half-tones which made her look like she had bags under her eyes. Neither the less this is the FIRST portrait that i feel extremely happy with, and the first one which i feel i did put my best effort in. Although the result was not exactly what i hoped for i still am very happy with the outcome, if i had more time i would definately spend a bit of time working on giving her a few more years (making her look less 'old')! Even working with someone who has more experience helped as i found myself constantly asking her for advice and i also found that she also pushed me and supported me as i tend to back away as soon as i dont like something.

From this portrait i found that i now am slightly more confident with charcoal and portraits, i definitely did get a great deal of practice with shadows and creating the transition to half tones however i found that i over worked certain area's too much and in the end i did get a sort of 'grey' feeling. The hair was a struggle, especially creating the movement and flow however everyone has their own technique and i yet have not discovered mine. Next week starting a new portrait and this time i am in the flat light, everyone says its difficult however i particularly love it especially in figure drawings so i think it will be good, lets see!

Life model was not in today so we had a little break, but this is alright as its a 2-week project which means i will definitely continue on the figure drawing until next friday (last day of school). Tomorrow I'm off to Venice for the day so wont be in the studio however friday back to work!!