Portraits

I like painting portraits and I practice painting them in different mediums. As you can see, I am not a photo realist painter. I like color and chunky paint. It seems that when I return to my portraits, sometimes months later, I see things I don't like about them. I haven't quite figured out why I don't "see" these things when I'm working on a painting so I can correct it. It is a mystery. Take the painting right below. I painted "Carlos" in a portrait class. We were suppose to paint a portrait of someone from our imagination instead of a model or photo. Now, when I look at him, I like the right side of the painting but the left looks unfinished to me. I think I have too much light coming into the left. I love the blue background and his groovy green shirt so overall I am pleased but I can't help being my own worst critic.  

Carlos
14 x14 oil on canvas

 Gracie is my first encaustic portrait. Wax is a very hard medium to control. It is also hard for me to blend colors so they often look simply placed on top of one another. Overall, I love her, her expression and, of course, her red hair.

Gracie
12 x 12 encaustic on maple panel

 I saw a painting that combined skin tones with bright colored hues for shadows. That is what I was trying to do in this painting. I like the way it turned out but I think she looks sunburned. Ouch! Next time I do this I will abandon skin tones altogether and just go with bright and interesting colors.

Untitled
14 x 24 oil on canvas