I'm calling her Olivia because she looks like one to me; no name was vouchsafed by Emma. I'm a little ambivalent about the end product, because Emma always emphasizes that the reference photo is just the jumping off place and that we shouldn't worry about painting an accurate portrait (which is definitely how she used it), but this girl was so delicately pretty that I felt compelled to work on the likeness, with the result that I couldn't follow some of Emma's lesson because she went a different way. I also really wish I had started a little lower down on the page...she feels like she needs more hair...and more air! Maybe it would solve the problem to crop her more tightly so that the bottom of her hair exits at the bottom of the picture.
I keep looking at her and saying to myself, "Is she done?" She seems a little saccharine to me, or generic?...perhaps I should have followed Emma's lead after all. I have decided she is finished three times and each time gone back in with one more highlight or brush stroke or shadow or strand of hair. She doesn't quite feel complete, but...that is the point of these paintings, to leave the raw or messy elements to show through, in both the background and foreground. So I guess I'll leave her alone, unless somebody tells me there's something significant missing!
"Olivia"—acrylic paints, charcoal, Stabilo on Fluid 140-lb. coldpress paper, 12x16 inches. (I scanned her in two pieces, so there is a seam.)
Better as cropped?
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