Finished!
I’m relieved that to have finally finished this painting. It nearly didn’t get finished this year. I got it about 98% done and got stuck. I just didn’t know what needed to be done. It took nearly a week before I could see that last little bit that would put it over the finish line. Started nearly a year ago, abandoned for months at a time, I wasn’t sure I was ever going to finish it.
I’ve learned so much about painting portraits from this one and the last one. I think I’ve improved a lot too. I’m probably going to have to paint this series again once I’m done because of how much I’ve improved from the first to the last. There are two more portraits in this series and it feels good to be half done.
Pardon the awful picture. It’s dark and stormy outside which means I couldn’t get the right lighting to avoid the dreaded glare. A reshoot is in order when the weather decides to cooperate again. Before I photograph it again, I’m going to try to find the time to put a coat of retouch varnish on it. It’ll really help even out the shine. Unfortunately, that will also need to wait on the weather.
*Post Edit – This painting turned out to be extremely difficult to photograph without glare. My normal open shade method was completely unusable. I ended up shooting it in a very dim room, using a whole bag of photography tricks I don’t normally need to use. I’m extremely pleased with the result though. Below is the previous glare picture.