Friday, July 31, 2009

Wipe Away.



" Never knowingly leave something wrong on your canvas"


This is a progress shot of a portrait commission I'm working on. I was having many issues with the proportions of the face and placement of ear. So while the first image may seem to be from after the second- the opposite is actually true. Sometimes you have to wipe away and start anew. ( I just had to)

I've read through an article a couple of times of John Singer Sargent's students telling of their experiences with him and his process- apparently if a face was not done to his liking, at the end of the session he would wipe it away- to do it all over again next time.

http://www.goodbrush.com/misc/painting_lessons/sargent_notes.pdf

3 comments:

  1. So, if you had to wipe away the face, what does it look like now? What is your progression looking like? How has it improved?

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  2. Ah Matthew, sometimes a painter needs a logical engineer behind him. The face looked better the first time;

    but, the night is still young.

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  3. That is good to hear. I think when it is all said and done we should have a party... with your commission. It would finish the night off well.


    But really, nice work with it so far.

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