Here was the very first painting of my son in law, Jacques. Done on hot press there were things I liked about it and things I didn’t.
So I tried several versions until I tired of painting that shirt. I painted this version on rough because I wanted to get the sparkle of the lake but it lacked any pop and wasn’t really any better than the original.
I put a wash over his face and darkened some shadows and,while I like the composition better, I don’t think it is appreciably better. I don’t know what I was expecting but I thought I should try to go against some kind of realistic style towards a more artistic look.
Oh well. On to other subjects.
I'm with you on the shirt! I'm surprised you didn't make it a solid color shirt in some of your later iterations. You're more patient than I am. On the other hand, I like the way the patterned shirt echoes the pattern in the chair back, so I'm glad you kept it. I like the later composition better, too--even though it's very minimally different, it's better. Also interesting is how adding the glaze and shadows to the last one changes the time of day and gives it a distinctively different feel.
ReplyDeleteThe original painting has an immediacy and snap that trumps the later version. He is front and center there, not competing with anything else in the background. The woman in the red dress is a perfect foil for his profile. Sometimes we get it right the first time out, but it takes a while for the artist to see it!
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